


Heartbreak Warfare

by EAS1928



Category: Alternate Universe - Fandom, Political RPF - US 21st c., Real Person Fiction
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-12 00:37:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 33,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13535940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EAS1928/pseuds/EAS1928
Summary: Bill is in the midst of a presidential campaign when an unexpected tragedy turns his and Hillary's life upside down.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Gonewiththeblizzard](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gonewiththeblizzard/gifts).



> For my friend who has been pushing me to write this for a while now. I have my writing mojo back for the time being.

“Chelsea, it’s time to go!” Hillary yelled up to her daughter for the fourth time in five minutes. She was quickly starting to lose her patience. Hillary huffed and headed up the stairs, taking them two at a time. She pushed open Chelsea’s partially closed door. “Chelsea Victoria Clinton, I said to get ready. You have a plane to catch!”

Chelsea lay on her side facing away from her mother, unmoving. “I don’t feel well mom. I don’t want to go” Hillary sighed. She sat on the edge of the bed and smoothed her hand down her daughter’s back.

“You have to go see your dad. You haven’t seen him in over a month” Chelsea rolled over and faced her mother, her eyes brimming with tears. Hillary’s heart broke. The divorce had been difficult on most everyone, but none so much as on Chelsea.

“I just don’t feel well mom. Can’t I go another day?” Hillary swallowed down the lump in her throat.

“Sweetie I know that you don’t quite understand everything, but your father and I have an arrangement and you have to go see him” Chelsea nodded slowly and sat up. Hillary stood from the bed to allow her to get out. She felt awful making Chelsea go to Bill’s, but she didn’t want to have another issue with him. He’d already, well his wife had already accused Hillary of trying to turn Chelsea against them.

She and Bill divorced acrimoniously three years prior when Chelsea was four. He’d had an affair and Hillary had not been able to forgive him. After much back and forth and him trying to fight the divorce he finally gave in, two years later he remarried. Hillary was shocked that he’d moved on so quickly especially when he fought her so hard about the divorce, but after he announced his candidacy for President she felt she knew what it was all about. He didn’t want her, he didn’t want to be a divorced candidate.

“Mom I’m ready” Chelsea’s small voice brought her out of her thoughts. She smiled at her daughter and ruffled her curly mass of hair.

“Ok sweetie and remember be good for your dad ok” Chelsea nodded, albeit reluctantly. Hillary fought the nagging suspicion that she shouldn’t send her daughter away, that maybe she wasn’t feeling well, but Bill and Marissa had drug her back into court one too many times accusing her of trying to keep Chelsea away, that she ignored her inner trepidation.  

Hillary drove Chelsea to the airport, Bill sent a private plane to pick her up. He was apparently rolling in dough these days with all his campaign donations. He’d arranged for Chelsea to meet him in Florida, where he was doing his latest campaign stop and then they’d go back to Arkansas for a few days. Hillary kissed her daughter’s forehead, she noticed it was slightly warm, but it was a pretty warm day in New York, so she chalked it up to the day’s weather. They said their goodbyes, she had to fight back tears as Chelsea’s little legs climbed up the stairs into the plane.

 

<><><><><><><>  


Two Days Later

Hillary rolled over and grabbed her phone. She had no clue who could be calling her at this time of night.

“Hello” her voice roughened by sleep.

“Was this your idea of a joke?” she sat up in bed immediately recognizing the drawl of her ex-husband.

“What are you talking about?”

“For fucks sake I am in the middle of a presidential campaign. I can’t be getting sick and what do you do? You send a sick kid to me!” he was furious at what he thought was his ex-wife’s attempt to sabotage his campaign. Hillary only heard sick kid and her stomach immediately dropped, Chelsea had been telling the truth.

“What is going on with Chelsea?” he scoffed.

“Like you don’t know. She’s sick, I’ve been up with her all night. She’s running a fever, vomiting, complaining of being achy. Clearly she has the flu.”

“I didn’t know she was really sick. I thought she was trying to get out of coming to visit you” she couldn’t help the little dig.

“Well, this is on you if I miss any campaign stops.”

“Oh my what a sacrifice William, having to miss a few campaign stops to take care of your daughter. Don’t worry about it I will be there tomorrow to get her!” Hillary was furious at his attitude, she disconnected the call not letting him get another chance to respond. Hillary jumped out of bed and began making plans to get to Arkansas to bring Chelsea home.

 

<><><><><><> 

She rushed into the hospital. Her heart thudding in her chest, the sound of blood rushing filling her ears. Once she’d arrived at the Governor’s Mansion she was told that Bill had taken Chelsea to the hospital. She wasn’t sure if he was being overly cautious or if something else was happening. There was a bad bout of the flu going around despite Chelsea being vaccinated that didn’t seem to matter much with this particular strain.

She nearly ran into the waiting area, Bill sat with his hands in his head and her heart dropped into her feet. He heard her approach and looked up at her with red puffy eyes. Hillary’s stomach twisted into knots.

“What’s going on?” he shook his head. She noticed Marissa slowly rubbing her back and she had to fight back the bile rising in her throat. She chalked it up to concern and fear for Chelsea’s well being.

“When she woke up this morning she was covered in bruises. She could barely be touched without screaming in pain. I don’t know what’s…” his words cut off by a choked back sob.

“What are the doctors saying?” he shook his head.

“They took her back as soon as we got here, and we haven’t heard much” Marissa filled Hillary in. Hillary not one to sit around and wait walked out of the waiting room. She was going to get answers about her little girl.

Hillary approached the reception desk, Bill followed closely behind. “My daughter was brought in and I’d like to know what is going on?”

“The doctor will be in to talk to you two momentarily” Hillary was about to protest when Bill grabbed her arm. She swung around at him, shooting daggers.

“Hillary, let us wait for the doctor to come speak with us. Making a scene isn’t going to change anything” she didn’t respond, only pushed past him and back into the waiting room.

Bill sank back into a chair once they were back in the waiting room. Hillary paced the room, glancing at Bill and Marissa occasionally. She rolled her eyes when she saw her rubbing his knee and seeming to give him a pep talk.

“Mr. and Mrs Clinton?” the doctor came into the room and approached Bill and Marissa. Hillary became irritated.

“I’m Chelsea’s mother” she said through clenched teeth and the doctor realized his mistake.

“Sorry, Ms. Clinton…”

“Rodham, not Clinton. What’s going on with my daughter?” the doctor looked between the two of them and they knew it wasn’t good news.

“I’d like to speak with the two of you alone” they quietly followed him into a private family room. The last thing she wanted to do was sit, but she sat next to Bill across from the doctor. “We’ve done extensive testing on Chelsea and really there is no easy way to say this, but your daughter has acute myeloid leukemia” both parents sat stunned into silence. Neither of them expected this to happen.

“How can that be? She’s always been so healthy?”

“We don’t exactly know what causes this, but it does appear from her test results that it was caught fairly early.”

“What can we do to treat it?” Bill asked.

“There are several treatments we can try, but first we need to do additional testing. We are going to keep her here for the time being” they both nodded.

“When can we see her?” Hillary asked, her voice shaking with emotion.

“I’ll have a nurse come get you momentarily” the doctor stood and left them alone. They both sat shell shocked at the news. Hillary suddenly dropped her head and the sob she’d been holding in finally came out. Bill looked to her, head down, shoulders shaking and pulled her into an embrace. He kissed the top of her head.

“She’ll be ok darling. We’ll make sure of that” she just nodded against his chest as the world seemed to be crumbling around them.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not planning to have this one be a long drawn out fic so going to try to move the plot along as quickly as plot continuity will allow.

The parents visited with a sleeping Chelsea, having pulled themselves together. Even though she was asleep they didn’t want their anxious sad vibes to disturb her much needed rest. Bill noticed that Hillary stood just outside of Chelsea’s room and she looked lost.

“Why don’t you come to the mansion?” he stood behind her, startling her out of her thoughts. She shook her head.

“No, that’s not necessary. I’ll be going to a hotel” he sighed.

“Hillary, you shouldn’t be alone and if anyone knows what you are going through it is me” he laid a hand on her shoulder. She gave him that look, and he knew what she was thinking. “It’s not a problem, you aren’t a burden” she nodded thankful for his offer. She did not want to be alone and was even willing to be around Bill and his perfect little wife.

“Thank you I really appreciate it” he gave her a small smile. Marissa was less than happy to hear that Hillary was coming to the mansion with them. She’d spent the last couple years trying to erase the ghost of Hillary from not only Bill’s life, but the lives of everyone around him. While the people of Arkansas put up a front that everything Hillary did vexed them, they never missed a chance to compare Marissa to the great Hillary Rodham Clinton. They expected her to not just be a trophy wife, but one that took up worthy causes that helped the state. That was not who Marissa was, she had a degree, but she spent most of her time in college scoping out the perfect husband. A man that would allow her to be the little lady. She found that in Bill Clinton, and on top of it not only was she the first lady of Arkansas she was probably about to be the first lady of the United States. She was not willing to let Hillary, nor a sick kid get in the way of that.

The three of them rode back to the mansion in silence. Marissa climbed into the car quickly making sure that Hillary was put in the back seat, which she did not mind. Hillary laid her head against the cold window and stared out into the inky blackness of the night. Bill stole glances at her through the rearview, glances that did not go unnoticed by Marissa. Hillary did not notice him, her thoughts firmly with her daughter lying in that hospital bed.

Upon reaching the mansion, Marissa volunteered to show Hillary to a room. Bill agreed and went to his study to look over campaign data, he needed a distraction.

“I know that you may be thinking this is a way for you and Bill to reconcile, but don’t think for one moment I’ll quietly step aside. You let him go and he’s mine now” Hillary’s brow quirked up. She was too tired and emotionally bankrupt at this moment to get into it with Marissa.

“Trust me when I say I don’t want Bill. As you said I let him go, so if I wanted him he’d still be mine” Hillary turned and entered the guest bedroom, slamming the door in Marissa’s face. She laughed sardonically at the gall of the woman, thinking that she’d use her daughter’s life threatening illness as a means to rekindle something with Bill. Maybe that was the type of woman Marissa was, but that was not who Hillary was. Hillary looked at her watch, it was a little past eleven. She grabbed her cell and pressed the preset for Daren.

“Hey babe, what’s going on? I thought you were coming back tonight” he launched into questions. Daren Roberts, an investment banker that Hillary had been dating for a year. He was two years her junior, tall blonde hair with piercing green eyes. Everything her ex wasn’t. She mentally sighed, hating that she even compared him to Bill, but she couldn’t help herself.

“Chelsea is in the hospital” her voice shook and Daren knew it was serious. Before he could ask, she continued. “She has leukemia, a rare form for children” Hillary blew out a breath trying to keep her composure.

“Oh my God Hillary. What can I do?” she smiled at his sweetness.

“Pray” she offered quietly.

“Of course, I have a meeting I can’t get out of tomorrow, but I can definitely be there by night” before she could respond there was a light tap at the door. She huffed thinking it was Marissa.

“Babe, hold on a second” Hillary sat her cell down and snatched the door open ready to chew Marissa out. She came face to face with Bill’s hand that was prepared to knock again. “Oh Bill, I thought….was there something you needed?” He looked over at her phone laying face up on the bed, the screen illuminated.

“Did I interrupt an important call?” he craned his neck trying to see the name on the screen. Hillary looked back at the phone.

“Yes, I was in the middle of a phone call. What did you need?” she ignored the unanswered questions in his eyes. Bill tore his gaze away from the phone and looked at her.

“Just wanted to make sure you got settled” she looked around the room.

“As you can see I am, granted there wasn’t much to settle. I didn’t bring any luggage. I wasn’t planning to stay” a thought struck him.

“I can bring you something to sleep in” she swallowed suddenly uncomfortable with this conversation.

“Sure, thanks. Just leave it outside the room when you do” Hillary backed away from him signaling she was done with the conversation. Bill got the hint and nodded before turning and leaving. She noticed he left the door open and she stalked over to the door, slamming it shut. “Sorry about that interruption.”

“Where are you?” her stomach tied in knots she wasn’t sure why that question made her nervous.

“I’m staying at the Governor’s mansion, until I can get a hotel” there was silence. “I wasn’t planning on even staying the night, so I didn’t make appropriate accommodations” he hummed into the phone. That hum that he made when something didn’t feel right, when something was annoying him. “What? Just say it!” her nerves were on edge and she didn’t have time for reindeer games.

“Do you think it’s appropriate for you to be staying with your ex?” Hillary rolled her eyes.

“My…..our daughter is in the hospital fighting for her life and you’re worried about me being here with Bill?” she was incredulous.

“I’m sorry sweetie I shouldn’t…. it’s just you know how much I love you and I worry about losing you” she calmed a bit.

“I love you too, and you don’t have to worry about losing me, especially to the likes of Bill Clinton.”

Bill returned to give Hillary something to sleep in. Despite her asking him to just leave them outside the door he was about to knock when he heard her voice. Bill stepped closer to the door and pressed his ear to it. He knew he shouldn’t eavesdrop, but he wanted to know who she was talking to.

He’d long suspected that Hillary had a boyfriend, but he hadn’t been able to find that information out. Sure, he was remarried, but he’d never truly gotten over his ex and while their relationship was over he still wanted to make sure she was ok, and that included knowing who was in hers and Chelsea’s life.

He never heard the persons name, but it wouldn’t be too difficult for him to find out who this mystery guy was and have him thoroughly checked out. He rationalized that he was doing it for the safety of his daughter, but a nagging tug in his heart told him that was not entirely the case.


	3. Chapter 3

Two Days Later

Bill and Hillary sat with the team of doctors taking care of Chelsea. They were laying out the treatment plan. Hillary knew from her research that the prognosis wasn’t good and that she had a greater chance of dying with this form of leukemia. Chelsea was awake and to the naked eye she seemed almost like there was nothing wrong, but both Bill and Hillary knew there was a war raging inside of her tiny body.

“Tomorrow we will start on the first round of chemotherapy. The aim is to induce remission, then we will explore other treatment options including radiation and stem cell transplant for longer term remission” the parents nodded quietly.

“How many rounds will she need?” Bill asked.

“That’s hard to say but we are going to start with twelve and reassess her values after” Hillary’s breath caught in her throat and Bill grabbed her hand without taking his eyes off the doctor. “I know this is difficult and you two have looked into this and see that we are in an uphill battle, but we are optimistic” the pair nodded unable to quite express what they were feeling at the moment.

“What days will her treatment be on?” Bill suddenly asked. Hillary looked at him, a frown on her face.

“Well that’s actually up to the two of you.”

“I’d like to be here but I need to consult my campaign schedule” Hillary’s nose flared, and her jaw flexed.

“Oh, by all means let’s not hinder your campaign by saving our daughter’s life” her voice was tight. The doctors recognized the tense atmosphere and they quickly concluded the meeting. Hillary snatched her hand from his and jumped up. She walked out of the office Bill took a deep breath before following her out. The scene he came upon made him stop in his tracks. Hillary was embracing someone, someone he’d never seen, but he figured it was the mystery man when he saw them kiss briefly. Bill clenched his jaw before approaching them.

“What are you doing here Daren?”

“I wanted to come check on you and Chelsea” Hillary saw Bill approaching, for a moment she thought she recognized… she put the thought out of her head.

“Governor Bill Clinton” he stuck his hand towards Daren. “And you are?” Bill’s ice blue eyes bore into Daren’s green ones.

“Daren Roberts, Hillary’s boyfriend” Bill’s jaw ticked almost imperceptibly but Hillary noticed. Bill squeezed his hand tightly, causing Daren to wince slightly, before releasing it.

“What are you doing all the way down here Daren?” Daren looked over to Hillary and stroked her face.

“I had to come check on my girl and Hillary as well” Bill’s eyes narrowed.

“I appreciate you being concerned for our daughter Chelsea, but we have the situation under control here. Hillary if you will we need to go work out the schedule for her treatments” Bill looked over to Hillary, his gaze challenging her to say otherwise. She didn’t know why but she suddenly felt like she was between a rock and hard place, but Bill was right they did need to work out the schedule. She turned to Daren and grabbed his forearm.

“Sweetie I have to go make plans for her treatment, we can have dinner later on” she pecked his lip to try to appease him. He tore his eyes from the quickly reddening face of Bill Clinton.

“Sure of course, Chelsea comes first, always” he leaned down and kissed her, lingering against her lips. Bill huffed.

“We’re burning daylight here Hillary” he stated as he turned and walked away.

“I’ll call you when I’m done here” she affectionately squeezed his bicep before turning and following the path Bill had just gone.

She could practically see the steam coming out of his ears when she walked into the small room they’d set aside for the governor and his family. He paced his fists clenched tightly by his sides, back ramrod straight.

“Let’s get this schedule done” he whipped around.

“So now you’re in a hurry, just a few minutes ago you were too busy playing kissy face with Ken” she ignored him. Hillary pulled her cell phone out of her purse and went to the calendar. Bill huffed and plopped down in a chair.

“I think Wednesday’s work best for me, and it will be consistent since they are starting it on a Wednesday” Bill scrolled through his campaign schedule and frowned.

“No can do. I have campaign stops on nearly every Wednesday” he stated looking down at his phone.

“And you accuse me of having my priorities out of place?” he snatched his head up and glared at her. Hillary waved her hand in the air. “Forget it you don’t need to be here, only one of us does, and as usual that one is me. Go about becoming president Bill, don’t worry about your daughter” her voice was tightly coiled, barely containing the undercurrent of rage, hurt, and despair. He brushed his long fingers through his thick greying hair.

“Damnit Hillary now is not the time for you to play martyr. I’m trying to work with you and you are being difficult just to be difficult” she scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“Well what day is good for you then Governor Clinton?” she put her hands on her hips and stared at him waiting for the answer she knew would come.

“I won’t be able to make all of her treatments, but Tuesdays are better for me” Hillary threw her hands up.

“Whatever Bill, I can make Tuesdays work, although God forbid I seem like the martyr” she threw back at him before turning and exiting the room.


	4. Chapter 4

 

Hillary’s eyes fluttered closed. She’d been at the hospital for nearly eight hours. Chelsea was getting her fifth chemo and much like she’d expected Bill had barely been around. He was too busy with his campaign to be there for their daughter, who’d asked about him insistently. 

“Hey” she felt a hand on her shoulder and she bolted up out of the chair. “Easy there it’s just me” she looked up into the eyes of her ex-husband, the man that she’d been just thinking about, who made her blood boil. Hillary shrugged his hand off her shoulder, the move not going unnoticed by Bill. 

“What?” she said tightly. He looked over at a sleeping Chelsea. 

“I got here as soon as I could. Did she already get her chemo?” Hillary cocked her head to the side and regarded him for what he felt was a lifetime but was only a few seconds. 

“Of course, she’s already gotten it” she stole a quick glance at her watch. “It’s nearly six Bill” Hillary stood from the chair, her muscles protesting the movement. “You can leave now and take care of your campaign. I know that is much more important than our daughter” Hillary went to the small table, that held a pitcher of water and poured herself a glass. She drank it slowly trying to calm herself down. 

“Can I talk to you a moment?” she kept her back to him and ignored his question. Bill strode over to her and grabbed her arm whipping her around, his eyes were blazing, his face a purple hue. She snatched away from him.

“What?” her voice slightly raised. 

“Not here” he said before turning and quickly walking out of the room. Hillary checked on Chelsea, making sure she was still sleeping comfortably before she did the same. 

“What was that all about?” he laid into her the moment she walked into the small private room that was been set aside for them. 

“I literally don’t have time for your theatrics. If the only reason you came here was for me to bow down and kiss your feet as the triumphant governor returns, then you are sadly mistaken” her voice was flat and tightly coiled he knew one misstep and they’d be embroiled in a shouting match. 

“Do you think it’s healthy for us to be so vengeful towards one another?” she scoffed and shook her head.

“Don’t you fucking dare William. Do not play the Chelsea card when you have missed three out of her five treatments.”

“I told you already what…” she held her hand up.

“Just shut up! You have more excuses than a pregnant nun” he closed his eyes tightly trying to control his anger. “If that was all you wanted then I need to go check on my daughter” she said stressing the my. Hillary went to walk past him, but Bill grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

“I’m not done talking to you” he spat her way. Hillary snatched away from him.

“I’m done talking to you” she made move to leave again and again he grabbed her. “Seriously William this isn’t funny or cute. As soon as she is healthy enough I’m taking my daughter back to New York.” 

“You will do no such thing Hillary Diane Clinton” he made sure to use her former last name. Hillary didn’t take the bait and instead pulled away from him. 

“I will do such a thing when the doctor gives the all clear and tells me she can travel. I’m not staying in this swamp hell hole you call a state” before she could turn away from him Bill grabbed her face, his large hands nearly engulfing her entire head. He smashed his lips to hers. She struggled out of his embrace and pushed him back. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she was too stunned to say or do anything else. 

“What we’ve wanted to do since you came here” his eyes bore into hers as he grabbed her back tightly against him. 

“We cannot do this here” Bill noted mentally that she said here not that they couldn’t do it at all. He reached behind her, and she heard the lock being engaged. Bill crushed his mouth against hers. The kiss was rough at first as she resisted, but as Hillary’s resolve melted he started to soften. His tongue slipped into her mouth. Hillary’s arms snaked around his neck, Bill pulled up her dress and pulled her panties to the side, running his finger along her wet slit. Bill reached down and unbuckled his belt before unfastening his pants. He pulled his hardness out and hiked her leg up against his thigh before sinking into Hillary. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head. He began to pump his hips against her and within seconds she felt her orgasm building. Hillary clawed at the material of his suit jacket.

“Fuck me Bill fuck me!” he grabbed her other thigh and hoisted Hillary against the door. She wrapped her legs around him tightly. Hillary silently prayed that no one would hear them.

“This is mine. It’s mine.” Bill stated through clenched teeth. Bill grabbed a handful of hair and tugged Hillary’s head back before attacking her neck.

“Don’t mark me Bill” she hated how feeble her voice sounded and she knew he wouldn’t listen. Bill clamped down and she knew immediately he was marking her.  He continued to piston his hips against Hillary’s and just as he released his hold on her neck she threw her head back against the door as her orgasm rushed through her like a five-alarm fire in a fireworks factory. Her brain began to short circuit and she screamed out his name. Bill pumped a few more times before releasing himself into her. He leaned his forehead against hers as they struggled to catch their breath.

Bill gently put Hillary down on the floor as he pulled his softening member from her slick depths. Hillary’s legs felt like Jell-O, she pushed back against the door to try to steady herself. Bill wouldn’t look her in the eyes and she knew he was regretting what happened and the feeling was mutual. 

“I need to go…” she didn’t say anything else as she turned and pulled on the door that wouldn’t budge. She kept pulling the door, until he reached around her and unlocked it. She’d forgotten he’d locked the door in her rush to leave. His arm brushed against her and her stomach roiled, she had to get away from him. As soon as the lock was disengaged Hillary snatched the door open nearly crashing it into her face and she quickly left the room. 

Bill angrily cursed to himself. He couldn’t believe he’d been so stupid and let that happen. He knew he had to get ahold of himself. He couldn’t let anything get in the way of him becoming president and that included his feelings for Hillary. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been forever.

She couldn’t look him in the eyes, the weight of what they’d done, what she’d done was pressing heavily upon her. Hillary sighed for the fourth time in less than five minutes.

“Honey what’s wrong? You’ve been acting so strange since last week” she held her head up giving the appearance of looking at Daren, but she only looked over his shoulder.

She shrugged trying to appear nonchalant before shaking her head.

“I’m just so worried about Chelsea” he knew it was more than that, but he wasn’t going to question her. He didn’t want to be an asshole and tell her that her somber attitude wasn’t just because her daughter was sick. Although he wouldn’t voice it he knew that her attitude of late had everything to do with her ex-husband.

“She’s been responding to treatment and may even be able to come home soon” he was trying to lift her spirits, but it didn’t work because she didn’t deserve his kindness. Hillary gave him a half smile before training her gaze on her watch.

“Oh, my time really flew. I need to be getting to the hospital” Chelsea’s appointment wasn’t for another three hours, but she needed to get away from Daren. He stood with her and made move to kiss her lips, but she moved her face and they only swiped her cheek. Hillary stepped back and smiled tightly at him, looking more like a grimace than anything else. “I should go” she patted his shoulder before removing herself from his embrace.

<><><><><><> 

Hillary was thankful that Bill was out of town. There was only so much she could do to avoid him. She didn’t want to see that smug look that she knew would be on his face. He would certainly get a sick pleasure out of knowing that he still had such a hold on her. Hillary pulled at the collar of her shirt and squirmed in her seat, the red flush of skin rising up from her neck into her cheeks.

“You warm?” that voice, she stood stark still not believing her luck. She felt more so than heard him come closer. He stood behind her, relishing what he knew was her discomfort at his arrival. She’d been avoiding him since their encounter the week before, but no more. Bill saw that she would not turn around, he came around and sat next to her, his light blue eyes trained on her. Hillary ran her fingers through her hair but kept her gaze forward.

“I didn’t expect you” she silently cursed as her voice waived. She could tell he noticed when he snorted softly.

“Well if you would return any of my calls, or messages you would have known that” she had read his texts, but he’d never mentioned being here for this appointment.

“I don’t have time to go back and forth with you” she glanced his way and immediately felt that was a mistake. Hillary gripped the arms of the chair, until her knuckles were white trying to avoid the urge to squirm under his intense stare.

“There was going to be no back and forth, but I’ll stop trying to coordinate with you since you can’t be mature about this” he was purposefully trying to rile her. For reasons he wasn’t willing to admit to himself, but he wanted to see that fire in her again, to have it thrown his way. Before either of them could speak again the doctor came into the room and all thoughts of their tumultuous relationship was forgotten as they focused on the care of their daughter.

After the meeting with the doctor they went to visit Chelsea, who was in the play room with the other kids. Although all of them were fighting life threatening illnesses they didn’t let it stop them from being kids. Hillary smiled as she stood quietly off to the side watching Chelsea color with another girl suffering from Leukemia. Chelsea was wearing a bright pink hat that she’d picked out after her hair started to fall out from the chemo, her friend had a colorful scarf wrapped around hers.

The three of them went back to Chelsea’s room and had dinner with her before departing to let her have some rest. Hillary walked quickly in front of Bill trying to get away as fast as humanely possible. She wasn’t interested in talking to him about what happened. Before she could get away he had grabbed her arm and pulled her into the private family longue. Flashes of roving hands, flesh meeting flesh, moans of pleasure, ran through her mind as she entered that place. Bill immediately recognized what she was thinking because he was thinking the same. He felt the stirrings in his pants, and he fought to maintain control. He couldn’t let her get the upper hand by divulging how much he wanted to bury his cock in her again.

“I’m really getting tired of you manhandling me” she stated through clenched teeth as she snatched away from him. His brows hiked up.

“Is that so…” he let the statement hang in the air and she felt that familiar tightening between her legs. Hillary swallowed, trying to push down the rising heat that was spreading throughout her body at his close proximity and innuendo.

“What do you want with me now William?” his intense gaze made her immediately hate herself for her words.

“We have to be mature about this situation Hillary. Chelsea is my daughter and I want her to get better as much as you do. Let’s put the animosity behind us and present a united front for our daughter.”

“I’ll do that as soon as you put her first. Your daughter is fighting for her life and all you care about is your campaign” her voice began to rise. Hillary took a step back and turned her back to him, trying to collect herself. She wrapped her arms tightly around her body, feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders and more alone than she’d ever been.

He could still read her like no other. A fact that he usually hated, but in this situation, he was grateful. Bill made a move to approach her, comfort her. She could read him just as well as he could read her. Hillary held up a hand to stop his forward progress. She took in a deep breath and slowly let it out before turning back to him.

“We will do what is necessary for our child, beyond that there is nothing else to talk about” she gave him a hard stare, her meaning undeniable. Bill nodded slowly, still unconvinced, but not willing to get into another row with her in public and risking someone witnessing it. Hillary walked past him needing to be as far away from him as she could.

<><><><><><> 

The clouded painful look in her eyes haunted him. Bill paced his office, cigar in one hand and a rare tumbler of Scotch in the other. Marissa watched from the door, she could tell that he was deep in thought and had not noticed her. This was her chance to watch him uninterrupted. He had changed, she couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but something was different. Sure, she wanted to chalk it up to the stress of the campaign coupled with his daughter’s illness, but she knew deep in her heart that it was something or if she was being honest with herself someone else.

Bill knew that whatever was bothering Hillary did not entirely amount to Chelsea being sick. Their encounter had left him shaken as well. He thought he’d put all those feeling aside and moved on with his life. When she decided to leave him, it took every ounce of reserve in him to keep going, and he’d finally been able to get his life back on track at least he thought so. Now here she was back in his life, and even in this most catastrophic of events he couldn’t help himself from being drawn to her, couldn’t stop his soul from reawakening with the feeling of being complete because its mate had returned.  He’d been staring at a spot on the wall when he finally decided what needed to be done. Bill slammed the glass down on his desk and stamped out the embers of the cigar in the crystal ash tray Hillary had given him on their fifth anniversary. Crystal was usually reserved for the fifteenth, but it was like she knew they wouldn’t make it.

He shook his head of those thoughts and turned abruptly, startling Marissa out of her thoughts. He frowned slightly, suddenly feeling guilty for what he’d been thinking.

“I didn’t realize you were there” that statement held so much meaning for her. He hadn’t truly seen her since this entire ordeal started. “Was there something you needed?” Her husband back she wanted to scream, but instead she just shook her head. “Good, I have to go out for a bit” he didn’t offer any further explanation as he brushed past her on his way out of his office.

<><><><><> 

Hillary had been laying in the same spot since she’d come back to her hotel a few hours earlier. She was thankful that Daren was gone back to New York. She wasn’t prepared to answer his questions about her mood. She was sure that he knew that her mood wasn’t entirely attributed to Chelsea’s illness. She was undoubtedly upset and scared out of her mind about what her baby girl was going through, but the cloud that formed over her and continued to rain down was another beast all its own, a six foot two inch beast with piercing blue eyes that felt like they could see through to her very core. She scrunched her face up trying to banish those thoughts, but it was of no use. Hillary resumed her staring up at the ceiling when a rap on the door caught her attention. She looked over at the clock, it wasn’t that late, but she had no clue who would be at her door. She huffed before sitting up and standing from the bed. Hillary trudged over to the door, the pressure of the world still making her feel sluggish and tired.

She brought herself up to her tip toes to look through the peep hole, she wondered who the hotel thought was staying here when they placed the peep holes so high.  Her breath caught when she looked through the peep hole and saw him, she turned around placing her back against the hard surface. Her heart sped up and she looked wildly around the room, for an escape she surmised. Even though she was safely ensconced in her room and he was locked out in the hall, she still didn’t feel safe and she wanted to be anywhere but where she was. Hillary jumped slightly when the previously light knock became heavier and  it was obvious he was getting irritated, but surely, he wouldn’t cause a scene. He was after all still Governor and also running for president as the democratic front runner.

“I thought we were going to be mature about this” she heard him say, the exasperation evident in his voice. She rolled her eyes knowing he was right. She couldn’t avoid him forever even if she hated the idea of him in her room. Hillary pushed herself away from the door and turned around, her hand gripping the handle but not immediately pushing down to release the lock. She closed her eyes and took a few steadying breaths before disengaging the lock and slowly pulling the door open. Before she could react, he was in her room, slamming the door behind him. He grabbed her face and kissed her hotly. She felt herself start to melt into his body, but her mind woke up. Hillary pushed him away and slapped him across the face.

“Get out!” she was furious more so with herself for letting him in, and not just in the door. Bill wasn’t deterred he began to walk closer to her. When he was inches away from her he looked down into her eyes.

“I can’t get you out of my mind. I have to have you again” he grabbed her to him again and this time she didn’t fight. She wasn’t going to fight him, she didn’t want to, she wanted him to have her anyway he wanted.


	6. Chapter 6

3 Weeks Later

She felt like she was living a double life, well because she was. No matter how much he tried to pressure her she wouldn’t stop seeing Daren just like he wouldn’t divorce his wife. Hillary had no clue what she thought was going to come of this, and in the long run so many would be hurt, including her. There was a reason she divorced him, because he cheated on her and here she was doing the same thing to Marissa. She sighed and ran her hand down her face in frustration.

Daren grabbed her hand his soft green eyes imploring her to let him in. It had not gone unnoticed that she’d completely closed herself off, even though she tried to give the pretense that she had not. The side of Hillary’s mouth quirked up, but she remained silent. It was his turn to sigh.

“I need to know what’s going on?” his voice coming out harsher than he intended. Hillary’s eyes bucked.

“I have no….”

“Cut the crap Hillary. I’ve been patient, but this is ridiculous. You have completely shut me out. I get it your daughter is ill, but I want to be there for you and you won’t let me. Why?” she was lost for words, blue eyes brimming with tears, not at what he’d said but because of the overwhelming guilt she felt. He was too good for her, but she was too selfish and afraid to let him go. If she did her last line of defense against Bill would be gone.

“I can’t….” she stopped talking a silent tear streamed down her face.

“Wow, and here I thought you were over him” Hillary shook her head.

“No, I am Daren” she took a deep breath. “I don’t feel like I have a right to be happy right now, with my daughter fighting for her life. You make me happy and it’s just so selfish” he pulled her into a tight embrace kissing the side of her face. Hillary closed her eyes tightly hating herself more for lying to him.

<><><><><><><> 

The day had arrived, Chelsea was well enough to come home. They’d agreed that she would go back to the Governor’s mansion albeit reluctantly. The nurses were getting her ready while the doctor had a chat with Bill and Hillary

“Her numbers are looking good, she is responding to treatment, but this battle isn’t over. I want you both to start thinking about post-chemo treatment” they both frowned.

“Once her chemo is over then she’ll be done right?” Hillary asked hopefully.

“No, unfortunately not. We can kill the cancer, but before her body can return to normal and be able to fight it may come back. Her best chance is a bone marrow transplant, at this point it would have to allogenic.”

“Hillary and I will be tested right away” the doctor shook his head.

“It’s more complicated than that. The best chance is a sibling, I know she doesn’t have any. You and Hillary can be tested, but you are only going to be a fifty percent match to her and there would be further chemo or radiation required” they looked at each unsure of what to do.

“That is our only choice. We need to try” the doctor nodded. He gave them information to read up on before they left.

<><><><><><><> 

He noticed how antsy she was, and he inwardly smirked. He got a sick pleasure out of watching her squirm. The last thing Hillary wanted was to be under the same roof with him again, but here they were.

“Sweetie we need to get going” Marissa interrupted his thoughts. They were going to campaign in California, the first time he’d be so far from Chelsea since she had gotten sick. He was nervous although he didn’t want to let on.

“Sure” Bill stood from the chair, Hillary avoided his gaze as he walked to Chelsea. He knelt down to his daughter’s eye level.  “Baby daddy has to go to work, but I promise I will be back as soon as I can” she looked up to him big blue eyes wide and gave him a gap toothed smile.

“OK daddy I will miss you” Bill hugged her still aware that she was fragile.          

“I will miss you too, daddy loves you so much” he kissed her forehead before walking out of the room without so much as a word to Hillary. She finally released the breath she wasn’t aware she was holding.

After their initial indiscretions they had been able to stay away from one another recently, but she hated to admit her resolve was wavering. Her body was craving him, she was addicted and she was nearly quaking for her next hit.

<><><><><><><> 

He had been gone for three days and she felt like herself again. The thick stale air suddenly felt light and clean, she didn’t feel weighted under the pressure of his very essence, she felt free. Daren had come to visit for the weekend and she was able to be his girlfriend again and that made him incredibly happy and Hillary was happy about that, but she had a nagging feeling that she’d somehow been untrue. She shook her head banishing those thoughts from them.

“Chelsea sweetie it’s time for bed” the little girl groaned her displeasure. Hillary chuckled. Since she’d gotten out of the hospital Chelsea had been trying to make up for lost time with all her toys. “Baby aren’t you tired?” the little girl shook her head no, before a yawn erupted from her body. Hillary laughed loudly. “Oh, really now?” Chelsea gave her a sheepish smile.

“Mama when is daddy coming back. I want to show him this picture I drew” Hillary was taken aback by her question. She wanted so badly to forget him, but Chelsea would always be a reminder.

“I don’t know sweetie” Chelsea stood up taking her favorite doll with her.

“I want to talk to him” she looked up at her mom with pleading eyes.

“He’s working sweetie and it’s your bedtime. We will call him tomorrow ok.”

“You promise?”

“I promise” Hillary took her hand and led her to her room where she read to her before tucking her in for the night.

Hillary went to her bed, she’d barely slept in…she couldn’t think of the last time she had a good night’s sleep. Chelsea was tuckered out, Hillary made it to page three of the book before she was sleep. She did her night routine before slipping underneath the covers. Her mind flashed momentarily to the mess she was making with her life. She shook her head making those thoughts go away, otherwise she’d never get to sleep. Sleep finally came, it was a deep sleep her body finally giving in to its exhaustion.

Hillary rolled over and tucked herself underneath the covers tighter. She felt like she’d just gone to bed but from the slight light peeking through the curtains she knew it was daybreak. She was nearly back into a deep sleep when she felt the bed shift.

“Chelsea I’m surprised you’re up” she said sleepily. Suddenly she felt a breath wisp past her ear.

“She isn’t up. I looked in on her” Hillary sat up so fast he had to move quickly to ensure they didn’t bump heads.

“What the hell are you doing here?” she tried to roll out of bed, but he grabbed her around the waist to stop her progress. “William I’m not playing with you. Why are you here?”

“First of all, I live here, secondly I’m back early because an event was canceled” he moved in and captured her mouth. Hillary tried to shrug him off, but he held her tighter. 

She tore her mouth away from his. “Where is Marissa?”

“California” he could see the question in her eyes. “Her event was not canceled so she stayed behind” he leaned in without warning and capture her mouth again. Hillary pushed against his broad chest until their connection was lost.

“Bill please” she whispered. “I can’t do this anymore, it’s so wrong and I just can’t.”

“Baby I cannot stop thinking about you. I need you” he began to kiss her again. His hand slipped underneath the covers and he groaned when he found her without underwear on. His finger slipped between her lips and they immediately became coated with her essence. Hillary moved against his hand, his thumb rubbed her bundle of nerves. Bill slipped his tongue into her mouth and she moaned.

He gripped her thigh and pulled it open. Bill loosened the covers from around her and pulled her underneath him. Hillary unbuckled his pants and pulled them down. He wasn’t wearing any underwear. She slowly ran her hand up and down his length, he groaned into her mouth. Hillary felt the pre-cum leak from his tip and she coated it. She began to stroke his sack. He pulled her hands away and pinned them over her head. She spread her legs wide and he sank into her. They both moaned at the feeling of being joined.

Bill pulled nearly all the way out and slammed back into her. He released one hand as he pulled her shirt over her head. He thrust firmly into her over and over. Her breasts jiggled with each thrust. The sound of his dick moving in and out of her slick pussy filled the room along with their moans and groans and soft words of encouragement.

“So close Bill. I’m so close.”

“Cum for me sweetness, cum for me. I love your pussy it’s so good baby. Cum all over my hard dick baby.” It was all Hillary needed to hear. She came hard, Bill felt her juices squirting over his cock, he lost himself.

“Fuck! Damn your pussy feels so damn good. I love when you ejaculate Hill” he dropped his head on the side of her head on her pillows. His hips continued to move against her. He didn’t want the feeling to ever end. Hillary found herself rubbing his back. She realized how intimate it was and she dropped her hand. He noticed the change in her attitude. He kissed the side of her head.

“You ok Hill?” she was quiet. Suddenly the door began to slowly open. Hillary pushed Bill off her and pulled the covers over them. Chelsea came in rubbing her eyes. She stopped at the sight of her parents in the bed.

“Mama, daddy…..” she looked between them. She was only seven and didn’t really understand the dynamic between her parents, but she knew her dad was with Marissa and her and her mom didn’t live with him anymore.

“Hey Chelsea how are you?” Hillary tried to act normal. She walked over and climbed onto the bed. She laid her head against her dad’s chest and looked up into his eyes

“Daddy what are you doing here? I thought you were working” she yawned still not fully awake.

“I had to come back and see you baby. I missed you so much.”

“And you got tired waiting for me to wake up and took a nap with mommy?” Bill smiled at the innocence of his daughter.

“Yes, daddy got tired and took a nap with your mom” Hillary cut her eyes at Bill.

“Chelsea why don’t you go back into your room and then I’ll come in there in a second” she nodded and climbed out of bed. Chelsea left the bedroom. Hillary slid out of bed, taking the sheets with her. “You seriously need to leave and go somewhere” she threw her hands up in the air before walking out of the room into her bathroom and slamming the door behind her.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shit is going to hit the fan soon because what is a fic without some drama and angst.


	7. Chapter 7

1 Month Later

Chelsea finished her last chemo treatment the week before, her white blood count was in normal range, and for the time being it looked like she was in remission. They were not out of the wood yet. The doctor wanted to still do the bone marrow transplant. Both Bill and Hillary were tested and their results were in.

Hillary sat nervously waiting for the doctor to come talk to them. Her heart was thudding in her chest, Bill looked over at her and saw her wringing her hands. Bill made a movement to grab her hand, but she moved away from his reach. He slowly placed his hand back into his lap. They were again pretending like nothing happened between them.

The doctor finally came into the room ending the roaring silence. He sat across from them and looked at Chelsea’s chart. Hillary’s heart was thudding in her chest, she could barely hear anything but its beat.

“Well we have your results as you know” they knew right away that he didn’t have good news. “Neither of you were a match.”

“How is that even possible? She has half our genetic makeup. She should have matched us” Bill was near hysterics. Hillary grabbed his arm to try to calm him.

“We talked about this beforehand Governor Clinton, there was always a chance that neither you would match or only be a partial match. In this case neither of you are the match she needs.”

“What can we do?”

“The best possible outcome is a sibling, the next is to try the public and see if we can find a viable half match there” she swallowed the lump down.

“With Bill running for president we can certainly bring awareness to the need for testing and find a donor for Chelsea” he looked up and started shaking his head.

“I’m not using this as leverage in this campaign. My opponents will crucify me” her eyes widened.

“Are you fucking kidding me right now! Our daughter’s life is at stake and you are worried about your fucking campaign!” Hillary jumped out of her chair and began to pace.

“For fucks sake Hillary stop with all the theatrics. She’s in remission right now we have time to find a donor without involving the campaign” he wasn’t entirely sure of that he just silently prayed that was true.

“While that is somewhat true Governor Clinton, the sooner we can get this bone marrow transplant the less likely she’ll have a relapse, so time is still of the essence” Hillary stared at him as he continued to disagree with involving his campaign. She scoffed and exited the office. He was not far behind her. They’d arrived together, and she hated that now. She didn’t want to be anywhere near him. The car came around to pick them up once they were outside. They rode back to the mansion in silence. Before the car barely had time to stop Hillary jumped out, slamming the door behind her. She barreled her way through the front door into the house, praying that Chelsea was asleep and wouldn’t be privy to the blow up she knew they were about to have.

Bill followed Hillary’s heavy footsteps up the stairs and towards her bedroom. For such a small woman she sure could make up a lot of noise. Hillary snatched her bedroom door open and was about to slam it, but he caught it. She turned around already knowing he was there.

“I don’t want to talk to your selfish pompous ass right now or ever” she stated through gritted teeth. He pushed her into the room and closed the door.

“You done with this show now Hillary or do you want to slap me and then throw a vase on the floor? I’ll wait until you are done” he stood with his arms folded tightly across his chest.

“This is all your fault you know that?”

“I gave Chelsea Leukemia? That’s a stretch even for you?” her bottom lip trembled and suddenly he realized what she was saying. She knew that he knew. She threw her hands up.

“This is done we don’t need to have anymore conversations. I will take Chelsea back to New York and we’ll be out of your hair” he stepped closer to her.

“Do you blame me for Chelsea being sick?”

“No, we are done here?”

“Are we Hillary?” she rolled her eyes.

“You know what William I’m done tip toeing around you and this, you ruined us. We aren’t together and don’t have more children because of you and your wayward dick” her voice was uncomfortably calm. He raised up on the ball of his feet and rocked back down, hands stuffed in his pocket.

“My wayward dick huh? You really are going to pretend like you had no part in our divorce?” she had no clue what he was talking about. “I saw you Hillary!” she was still unsure what he was talking about. “I saw you with Martin” suddenly it all became clear to her. “You are the one that cheated, not me. I walked in on you and my deputy chief of staff making out which I’m sure was a prelude to fucking.”

“I didn’t fuck him, if you had stuck around a little longer instead of running you would have saw I pushed him away, but you were too busy running to that whore Denise and fucking her!”

“I didn’t” he turned away from her and was about to leave the room. Hillary grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back around.

“What did you just say?”

“Nothing it doesn’t matter. All that matters…..”

“No, don’t you dare. What did you just say to me? You didn’t want?” he remained silent. She poked him in the chest. “You didn’t what William!” he sucked in his bottom lip, his nostrils flaring. Hillary poked at him again. “What didn’t you do William, destroy our family because you couldn’t keep it in your pants? Oh, but you did!”

“You want me to be the bad guy so badly. You are the reason for our divorce. You really expect me to believe you didn’t fuck Martin?”

“I didn’t and unlike you I kept faithful to my vows. You ruined us Bill you not me!”

“I didn’t fuck Denise, Hillary!” she stepped back from him, the lie that she thought he was telling causing her to step back from the audacity of it.

“Oh, you are some piece of work.”

“I saw you with Martin and I left. I ran into Denise at the bar, yes I certainly thought about it, but I never did anything.”

“She said you did and you never denied it” Hillary looked at him with narrowed eyes.

“What difference did it make? I had already lost you to him, I knew you were going to leave me. When I saw how easy it was for you to believe her story I never bothered defending myself it was obvious that there was no trust if all it took was some random woman to claim she had an illicit affair with me” he turned away from her, his back tight with stress and anger. A small sob escaped her throat realizing what they’d lost.

“Bill we have to go public with the search” he rubbed his eye lids still not looking at her.

“I said no, I refuse to use my daughter as a pawn” she was back to anger at his insolent behavior.

“So, we just let her die?”

“Back with the drama eh Hillary? She won’t die there are other ways.”

“Like what? We have no other options.”

“A sibling is the best chance” she looked around.

“In case you haven’t noticed she’s an only child” he turned back to her.

“She doesn’t have to be. We can change that.”

“You have lost your mind if you think I’ll have another child with you” he smirked, and she knew what he was thinking. “And even if I thought this was a good idea you do realize how long it takes to have a baby and a baby we’d only be having for the sake of using it that isn’t fair.”

“Artificial insemination Hillary, and it may take just as long to find a donor.”

“Yeah because you won’t help out.”

“I am helping out I’m offering to have another child with you” she chewed on her bottom lip. She knew a full blood sibling was the best chance, but she also knew that having another child with Bill was absurd.

<><><><><><> 

  
“You offered to do what William!” Marissa stood abruptly not believing what her husband had just said to her.

“We need to find a donor for her, it’s the best chance for her to stay in remission. And a sibling is the best donor” she paced the floor.

“Many people get non-related donors, why do you want to do this? Why would you want to be tied to her any more than you already are?”

“Because I love my daughter and I won’t stand back and wait for someone else to take control of her healthcare when Hillary and I can do this and ensure she is ok.”

“But there is no guarantee what if you do this and still there is no match? Then what you just keep having babies until one matches? And what about me William did you ever stop to think how this would hurt? It is bad enough that I have to have a constant reminder of the woman I’ll never live up to with Chelsea but now you want another one?”

“This is to save my daughter’s life it’s not just for the sake of having another child” she just stared at him. “Don’t give me that look Marissa and stop thinking about you. I will do whatever I need to do for my child!” he stood and walked out of their bedroom.

<><><><><><><> 

“Are you kidding me! He wants to have a baby” Daren shook his head not believing the gall of Bill Clinton.

“For Chelsea not just because he wants a baby.”

“Doesn’t matter Hillary, that is so disgusting by the way. Having another child just for some body parts. And irresponsible I mean you two can barely even stand to be in the same room together and you want to bring another child into this world. You told him no right?” she had, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t thinking about it still. She wanted what was best for Chelsea and this was the best thing. Hillary pulled at the collar of her shirt. “You told him no right?” he asked again.

“Of course, I told him no. I just need to make sure that we do find someone” he came to her and pulled her against him.

“Baby I will get tested and everyone I know I will make sure they get tested” he kissed the top of her head. Hillary knew what her mouth was saying, what her head was saying, but her heart seemed to be screaming the loudest and it had other ideas.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The shit starts to come in contact with the fan.....lol

“Are you sure it’s ok to leave her with you?” Hillary had to go back to New York to finish up a case. Chelsea’s immune system was still too weak to go on a plane and Hillary had to leave her with Bill.

“Yes, Hillary it’s ok to leave her here” he responded exasperated. They had reached a stalemate in their decision for her post treatment care. Hillary was nearly to the point of choosing to have another baby, but Daren’s steady and logical words pulled her back from the brink of doing something stupid.

“Just remember she has to wear a mask if she….”

“I’m aware” he cut her off. Hillary finished packing. She said her goodbyes to Chelsea before leaving the mansion. A feeling of dread settled in the pit of her stomach, but she figured she was just nervous about leaving Chelsea for the first time since she’d gotten ill.

<><><><><><> 

“You have my number, and Hillary’s. Just watch her for the day while I go to my campaign headquarters” his team had been able to secure him a meeting with a high-profile donor. He’d given Marissa explicit instructions regarding Chelsea. He kissed her cheek quickly before leaving the house.

Marissa rolled her eyes when he left. Watching his child was not something that she’d bargained for when she married him. She puffed out a breath, she didn’t want to be cooped up all day with Chelsea. As if on cue she appeared.

“Marissa what ya doing?” she looked down at the little girl. Her big blue eyes reminding Marissa instantly of her mother. At least everything else was Bill, which made her feel a bit better.

“Nothing, absolutely nothing” she had a thought and she looked down at Chelsea. “How are you feeling today? the little girl shrugged.

“I’m a little tired, I guess.”

“Well that doesn’t seem that bad, Chelsea go get your shoes on we are going out” Chelsea hesitated a moment, not sure if she should, she knew that she wasn’t supposed to go out according to her mom. She was about to protest. “Well go on then. I’m the adult and I’m telling you to go get you shoes on” Chelsea silently left the room. Marissa was thankful that she had been raised not to question authority.

Once Chelsea was ready Marissa had the driver take her into town, so she could do some shopping. She went from shop to shop in a quest to have retail therapy. After three hours of going in and out of stores and walking around Chelsea was exhausted and began to lag behind.

“Come on now keep up” she threw over her shoulder as she entered yet another store. Finally, after six hours Marissa was ready to head back to the mansion. Chelsea fell asleep almost as soon as she got into the back of the limo. Once they were back Marissa had one of the maids take Chelsea to bed. Marissa couldn’t believe she’d slept the entire time. She shrugged and went to put up her purchases.

Bill came back late that night. He found Marissa sitting up in the living room, painting her fingernails.

“How did it go today?” she looked up at her husband.

“Fine, uneventful.”

“What time did Chelsea go to bed?” she frowned and looked around, suddenly remembering that she hadn’t seen Chelsea since they’d returned home.

“Umm early” she didn’t say anything else.

“Did she have an appetite today?” Marissa was quiet as she tried to think back to if she had fed Chelsea. “Marissa do you hear me? I’m not asking you to solve Pythagorean’s theory. Did Chelsea have an appetite?”

“I’m not sure…” he frowned.

“What do you mean you aren’t sure?” she could tell he was starting to get angry.

“I….I lost track of time” Bill’s brows nearly shot off his head. He angrily turned and left the room, taking the stairs two at a time. Marissa followed him upstairs to Chelsea’s room. He burst into the room to find his daughter laying on the bed, he could tell right away something was wrong. Bill went to her and saw a light sheen of sweat covering her skin, her hair matted to the side of her face. He touched her and drew back she was on fire.

“What did you do to her!” he yelled at Marissa. Bill picked her up, her clothes were soaked. “Why is she still in her clothes she had on earlier? Did you take care of her at all?” he was angry and scared. “Chelsea baby wake up for daddy” he held her close and tried to get her to wake up. “Don’t just stand there call Dr. Ali, make yourself useful for fuck’s sake” he turned back to his little girl and laid her down on the bed. Bill rushed into her bathroom and came back with a cold cloth. Marissa came back into the room.

“He wants us to bring her in, he said he’ll meet us at the hospital” Bill looked at her with icy blue eyes.

“He’ll meet at the hospital” he quickly made arrangements to be taken to the hospital and called Hillary before he left. He arranged for his campaign jet to go pick her up while he was on his way to the hospital with Chelsea, who continued to come in and out out of consciousness throughout the ride.

The nearly five hours it took between Hillary getting the call from Bill and arriving in Arkansas felt like an eternity. She rushed into the waiting room and found him pacing. She noted that he was alone.

“What happened?” he looked up into the face of a frantic Hillary and just shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“I wasn’t there I went to the headquarters for a meeting and left her with Marissa” Hillary’s eyes went wide.

“You couldn’t stay with our daughter for one fucking day William! And now she’s back in the hospital with only God knows what wrong with her!” she was hysterical, and he knew he deserved everything she was saying. He should have put the meeting off. Hillary began to pace, he wanted to go to her, to hold her and tell her things were going to be ok, but he didn’t this was his fault.

“Mr. and Mrs. Clinton” Dr. Ali came into the waiting room. He immediately realized his mistake but didn’t have time to correct himself. “I need to talk to you about Chelsea” Hillary’s stomach dropped into her feet. “She has a severe infection, has she been exposed to anyone sick?” they both shook their heads.

“She hasn’t even been out of the house since she came home, none of us are sick and we make sure to wash our hands and change clothes before we interact with her after coming from outside” the doctor rubbed his bottom lip.

“It seems to have been a sudden onset, maybe something she was exposed to recently, it doesn’t take long with her compromised immune system. Things are much dire now. Her white blood cell count is twice the normal threshold. I know we were talking about bone marrow, but I’d recommend that and a stem cell transplant.”

“Why the change?”

“This infection that she has is the reason for the change” both their hearts felt like they stopped beating.

“Where are we supposed to get stem cells from? Won’t that take forever?” Bill asked frantically.

“The best source of stem cells for Chelsea’s condition is umbilical stem cells” Hillary closed her eyes and dropped her head into her hands. “Because of this change, I’d like to get her a bone marrow transplant as soon as possible and then start working on a stem cell transplant.”

“How long is this going to take?”

“We may be able find her a bone marrow donor fairly quickly. Stem cell is a little trickier and may take some months.”

“Does she have that long?” Bill asked.

“Yes, if we get the bone marrow we should be able to stabilize her long enough to find appropriate stem cells.”

“Ok, then that’s what needs to happen. We can do that….” Bill felt like he was rambling and lost. Hillary had remained silent. The doctor left them alone. She lifted her head and looked at him.

“What happened I don’t understand?” she sounded lost.

“I want to know the same. She was fine when I left….” his word trialing off as the full weight of what he’d done came on him. If only he hadn’t left. “Hillary, we have to….”

“I know I already know what you are going to say, and I agree. It’s her best chance for survival. Dr. Ali should be able to recommend someone” she said softly as her world began to crash down around her, she felt more helpless now than when Chelsea was first diagnosed. She didn’t want to enter into this agreement with him, but there was really no other choice now, it was have a baby with Bill or risk losing Chelsea. She couldn’t let that happen before doing everything possible for her little girl.

<><><><><><> 

It was late when Bill returned home but he didn’t care. He headed towards his bedroom and found Marissa there sound asleep. His heart clenched, how could she sleep at a time like this? She hadn’t even called and asked him how Chelsea was. Bill slammed his hand down next to her head laying on the pillow and she sat up startled. When she looked around there stood her husband, cold dead eyes trained on her.

“What did you do to my daughter?” she opened and closed her mouth several times. He quickly began to lose patience. “Answer me!” she jumped at his sudden outburst.

“I….I’m sorry Bill. I didn’t mean for anything to happen” he had only been guessing but now he knew, but he remained silent. “I took her out. I noticed she was tired, but I just kept shopping. When we got back I let her go to her room without making sure she was ok. I really didn’t mean for this to happen” by this time he was pacing. The anger, and contempt rolling off him.

“You could have killed her. You knew that her immune system was comprised, and I asked you one damn favor to stay with her and you couldn’t do that!” she was tired of him blaming her.

“Maybe if you had put her first, instead of your campaign I wouldn’t have had to watch her.”

“You know what you are correct there and I hate myself for leaving her with you, but I thought I could trust my wife with my child.”

“You can I made a mistake….”

“Marissa letting her eat just French fries instead of veggies is making a mistake. You exposed her to things that could kill her, and now Hillary and I have to race to find additional treatment for her.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means we are going to have a baby so that we can save Chelsea” her heart dropped, and she felt the lump rising in her throat.

“You can’t do this Bill. I am your wife and you haven’t even cleared this with me and you are in the middle of a presidential campaign, how will it look?”

“First I don’t have to clear it with you to save my child’s life and second no one has to know anything about this until after the election” Marissa knew that she was losing him piece by piece. Since all of this happened and that woman came back he hadn’t been the same. They hadn’t been intimate in over a month, he didn’t seem to even care about her. These days all that mattered to him was Chelsea, the campaign, and reluctantly she agreed, Hillary.

“Do you even care about me?” Bill sighed annoyed.

“Marissa this is not the time. I don’t want to get into this with you.”

“No, I want to know do you even care about me!”

“Frankly, I don’t like you very much right now and I’m pissed with you!” there he’d said it. She recoiled at his words. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed how unsupportive you have been through all of this. You never went to see her when she was in the hospital, you never ask me how she’ doing, how am I supposed to be all warm and fuzzy towards you when you haven’t given a damn about my daughter’s health?”

“I have taken extra campaign events don’t act like I don’t care” she knew that what he was saying was true, but she thought she’d try deflection. She also noted that he never said he cared about her.

“My campaign is not nearly as important as my daughter.”

“Really, I couldn’t tell seeing as you have left every chance you got” his nose flared, and he got in her face.

“I have been trying to find a donor for her. Do you really think I would have been leaving her otherwise? I haven’t said anything because I didn’t want to get Hillary’s hopes up because so far, I haven’t been able to find anyone suitable.”

“Bullshit William, you didn’t even want to go public.”

“Because I already knew how difficult it was going to be to find someone and Hillary would be hopeful if we did a public thing. I have had my hopes up so many times only to be crushed when I couldn’t make the match happen. Even now the doctor wants to do a transplant to stabilize her and I don’t think he’s going to be able to find anyone for her. I’m terrified, but you wouldn’t know that or even care” he turned away from her. Marissa came to him and placed her hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged away from her touch. “We are done talking, I’m going to the guest room” he didn’t look at her again as he grabbed clothes to sleep in and left the room. Once he was gone she knew she couldn’t let this baby thing happen. He was already intertwined with that woman and it would only get worse if another child was in the picture.

<><><><><><><><> 

The next morning

Daren came to Arkansas to be with Hillary once he found out about Chelsea being ill. She’d went back to staying at a hotel. There was no reason to stay with him if Chelsea was back in the hospital. Hillary was nervous about telling Daren about her decision. She hoped that he would understand that this was what needed to happen for her daughter’s survival. They spent most of the morning with Chelsea, who was responding to treatment for the infection but no means out of the woods.

“Talk to me?” he grabbed her hand as they sat on the sofa in her room. She took a deep breath and he became nervous.

“I need to tell you something” his heart sped up. “With everything going on with Chelsea I have decided to go through with having another child” he slipped his hand from hers and turned away.

“When did you decide this?” his voice was tight.

“Yesterday after talking to the doctor about what she needs. They need umbilical stem cells and the best….” he threw his hand up and stood from the sofa.

“Stop trying to rationalize it” Hillary frowned.

“I don’t need to rationalize saving my daughter’s life. I would do anything to save her life and if you can’t understand that maybe you aren’t the man I thought you were” he blew out a breath trying to calm himself. He came back and sat next to her grabbing her hand again.

“I’m sorry I just hate all of this.”

“You think I’m happy about any of it? I’m about to have another child with my ex-husband because my daughter has a life threatening illness this is no cakewalk” he pulled her to him and kissed his forehead.

  
“I’m sorry” his brain started to formulate a plan. What if Chelsea didn’t get better and Hillary couldn’t get pregnant with Bill’s child because she was pregnant with his, then life would be a lot easier. He’d no longer have to live in the shadow of Bill Clinton and Hillary would no longer have any ties to him.


	9. Chapter 9

Two Weeks Later

Bill and Hillary sat nervously in the private office of Dr. Thornton, a fertility specialist recommended by Dr. Ali. He was used to dealing with high profile people that needed the utmost confidentiality. He came into the room and shook both their hands.

“You are wanting to conceive for the purpose of getting stem cells for your daughter who is suffering from AML?” he said looking at the chart.

“Yes, that is correct” he looked up at them and steepled his hand on the desk before leaning back against the chair.

“I’m not going to lie, there are some things that worry me, namely both your ages. You are over forty and as you know it’s not easy past thirty-five for women and contrary to what people say even men start suffering from age related issues with their sperm. You both will have to go through a battery of tests before I will agree to do the IVF. IVF is a difficult procedure and requires weeks of hormones, we will have to harvest eggs from you Hillary after you’ve been on weeks of hormones to produce enough eggs to ensure that we got a viable embryo” they looked at each other.

“Can’t we just do the insemination?” Bill asked.

“I wouldn’t recommend that because of age. IVF is the best chance and also we have the opportunity to pick the embryo that will have the best chance of helping Chelsea.”

“When do we get started?” Bill looked at Hillary shocked. “I want to do this as soon as possible, I read that at about two months we could use amniotic stem cells and I want to try that.”

“Well if you all are ready my nurse will set up everything.”

<><><><><><><> 

Bill and Hillary left the doctor’s office and went straight to the hospital to visit Chelsea. After donning the protective clothes they went into her room and was pleased to see her sitting up in bed coloring. Her face lit up when she saw her parents. They visited with her for a bit. Bill sat on the side of her bed and read to her after Hillary nodded off. He soon joined her on the small love seat and nodded himself. There was a soft knock on the door and Marissa entered the room. She frowned softly when she saw Hillary and Bill sleeping but refocused her attention on Chelsea.

“Hi, Chelsea, I wanted to come see how you were doing?”

“I’m feeling better” Chelsea went back to coloring ignoring Marissa.

“How long have they been asleep?” Chelsea looked over at her parents and shrugged slightly.

“I don’t know I’m not wearing a watch” her precociousness annoyed Marissa at times. “They didn’t go at the same time though, daddy stayed up and read me a story, then he took a nap with mom again.”

“What do you mean again?”

“They take naps together like when I’m at home. Daddy came home from working and took a nap with mommy, do you have any candy?” Chelsea stated innocently. She was on to other things, but Marissa wanted to know.

“I don’t, tell me more about your mom and dad taking naps. How do you know they take naps?” Chelsea frowned, she was annoyed with this boring line of questions. She huffed softly.

“They took a nap, I came into mommy’s room and daddy was in her bed and they said that daddy got tired waiting for me to wake up, so he took a nap with mommy” she stated exasperated. Bill had heard voices and he began to wake. He caught the tail end of what Chelsea was saying and his stomach clenched. Marissa noticed he was awake, she trained her angry eyes on Bill.

“What are you doing here?” he said sitting up.

“We need to talk” her voice quivered with barely concealed rage.

“Later, I want to finish my visit with Chelsea” she felt summarily dismissed and that ticked her off even more.

“Later then” Marissa turned and stalked out of the room. Bill knew he was in for a very unfun evening.

<><><><><><><><><> 

He lingered at the hospital, it wasn’t that he was nervous about this conversation he just wasn’t in the mood for her dramatics and the shrieking of her voice. He had no idea how he never noticed how very annoying she was. What he ever saw in her he wasn’t sure at this point. Sure, she was pretty, but her personality left a lot to be desired. He sighed, looking down at his sleeping daughter. Hillary was oblivious about what happened. He didn’t tell her when she woke up. He bid her goodnight, she’d decided to stay at the hospital. He wanted to do the same, but he needed to go deal with this situation.

 

Marissa jumped from the sofa when Bill walked into the house and he could see she was ready to lay into him. Bill held up his hands.

“Before you start….”

“No, you will not make excuses” he shut his mouth, excuses wasn’t exactly what he had in mind. “How could you be so stupid Bill? Don’t you see what she’s doing?” Bill frowned “I was immediately pissed after I heard what Chelsea said, but then I realized exactly what she’s up to.”

“Marissa….”  
“I know you don’t want to see her for what she is because she’s the mother of your child, but she’s using you to get to me Bill. I told her that she wasn’t going to get you.”

“You what?” he was livid, but Marissa was too wrapped up in herself to notice the change in his demeanor.

“Yes, when she first got here I let her know where she stood. You are loyal to her that sometimes you refuse to see how terrible she is. I know it’s because of Chelsea.” Marissa walked to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I’m not angry with you anymore. I know now that I was being overly sensitive, and you’d never cheat on me especially not with Hillary” he arched his brow.

“Why not with Hillary?” she answered without missing a beat.

“You don’t want her, she’s not pretty enough, or sexy or sexual. She’s a cold fish we both know it and I hate that you had to spend so long with her” Bill tensed he didn’t want Marissa talking about Hillary the way she was. Marissa didn’t notice his body tense. “Bill” her voice brought him out of his thoughts. He looked down at her, she stood with her arms still wrapped around him, he hadn’t reciprocated the motion. “I’m ready Bill.”

“For what?”

“I know that I said that we should wait, but I’ve changed my mind” he looked at her confused. This conversation wasn’t going nearly the way he thought it was.

“About?”

“A baby.. I want to have a baby with you sooner rather than later. I had my IUD taken out a week ago. We should start trying tonight” Bill was stunned and relieved that he hadn’t had sex with her recently. He didn’t want a baby with her. There was only one woman that he wanted to be the mother of his children.

“You know that isn’t possible because……..”

“No, William this isn’t fair. I’m your wife not her! I should be having a baby with you!” she screamed, he stepped out of her embrace and she stood pouting. “You’re angry because I want to have a baby with you, my husband” he shook his head as he walked over to their bed.

“No, not at all” he didn’t speak to her again as he went into the closet to change into his night clothes. Bill came back out once he was done and slid underneath the covers. “I’m going to head to bed. I’m really tired.” Marissa stood motionless in the middle of the floor as he rolled over and turned his bedside lamp off. He knew he wouldn’t be sleeping tonight. What he really wanted to do was to go back to the hospital and be with Chelsea and Hillary, but he couldn’t, not at the time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 10 is explosive.


	10. Chapter 10

The results from their test had come back and they were waiting for the doctor to talk to them. Hillary sat in her chair and squirmed, Bill reached over and grabbed her hand and she let him. His comforting touch immediately calmed her. Dr. Thornton came in and sat across from them. He opened the chart.

“Well everything looks good. Governor you have good motility, size, shape and number are adequate” Bill felt a sense of pride wash over him and Hillary had to fight not to roll her eyes when she saw him puff his chest out a bit. “Mrs. Clinton…”

“Rodham, my last name is Rodham” she’d grown tired of people still calling her Clinton. She saw Bill frown out the corner of her eye.

“My apologies, Ms. Rodham. I want to conduct some additional test” the doctor looked at Bill and then back at Hillary before continuing. “If you would like to discuss this in private…”

“No, it’s fine you can talk to me in front of him” her heart began to thud rapidly in her chest. The doctor nodded and then looked at her chart again.

“Your follicle stimulating hormones are low. We like to see a number of at least four point seven” she swallowed the lump that formed in her throat.

“What were mine?” she asked, her voice quivering at the realization that she may be the reason her daughter couldn’t have this life saving procedure.  Dr. Thornton recognized the pain in her face, he’d send it countless times. He blew out a silent breath before proceeding.

“Your FSH levels were at one point five” Bill squeezed her hand, he could see her breaking down right in front of his eyes. “We would like to perform further test, today.”

“What kind of tests?” he asked.

“An ultrasound to start, to rule out any structural abnormalities of the ovaries or fallopian tubes. If you have the time” he looked between the two. Hillary remained silent, too devastated to talk.

“Yes, we can do that” Bill spoke for them. The doctor informed them he would go get everything ready before leaving them alone. As soon as the door closed her dam broke. She dropped her head and sobbed. Bill stood from his chair and knelt in front of her. “Hilly baby” it had been so long since he’d called her that nickname. “Sweetie this isn’t the end we can….” she pushed away from him.

“Chelsea is going to die and it is going to be my fault” she had her back to him. He stood and moved behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her against his broad chest. He kissed the top of her head.

“It is going to be ok” he whispered into her hair.

“You can’t guarantee that” she sounded so small and unsure of herself. Not like the Hillary he was used to. There was a knock on the door and they parted. A nurse opened the door after they gave her permission.

“We are ready for you Ms. Rodham.”

“Can I come?” he asked. She looked to Hillary who nodded. The pair followed the nurse she directed Hillary to a small dressing room to change into a gown and Bill went with her to the room to wait for Hillary. Once she was in the gown she came into the room and was directed onto the ultrasound table. The doctor explained things to her before starting the exam. He put the gel on her stomach and pressed the wand against her.

“Hopefully we can get a good picture since I didn’t have you fill your bladder first” he moved the wand around, taking measurements and enlarging pictures. He stopped moving the wand and sat closer to the screen. The doctor wrinkled his forehead.

“Is everything ok?” she asked nervously. The doctor looked over at the nurse. He stopped the procedure, removed the wand from her stomach and handed her a paper towel. “What’s going on?”

“Hillary if you will get dressed and meet me back in my office we can speak further” he didn’t say anything else as both he and the nurse left the room. Hillary went to the dressing room to change back into her clothes, Bill waited in the hall for her and they walked to the doctor’s office together. They sat down across from Dr. Thornton, even more nervous than before.

“Doctor please be frank with us. What’s going on?”

“Hillary, I found the cause of your low FSH.  You’re pregnant about nine weeks along” the blood drained from her head, she didn’t hear anything after the words you’re pregnant. She sat staring at the doctor, his mouth moving but she didn’t hear any sound coming out.

“Hillary, Hillary” Bill shook her hand his voice bringing her back.

“I can’t be pregnant, there is no way” Bill looked over at her shocked.

“Doctor can you give us a moment?” he nodded understanding and left them alone. “What do you mean you can’t be pregnant” he stood and leaned against the desk facing her with his arms folded. She looked up at him with the same shell-shocked look on her face.

“I can’t do this Bill” he was confused by her reaction.

“What do you mean? This is why we came here, and you are already pregnant” she stood and began to pace.

“Bill, I’m already pregnant nine weeks pregnant! Don’t you see the problem? What are we going to say to your wife and my boyfriend?” in the happiness he hadn’t thought about that. He bit his bottom lip.

“We tell the truth” she looked at him like he had grown a second head. “What else is there to do Hillary?” she looked away. “That is not an option!” he immediately became upset with her.

“Bill, we don’t even know if this baby will be what we need. With the IVF we could have guaranteed….”

“You aren’t having an abortion” he interrupted her.

“It isn’t your choice this is my body!” she was angry now. He closed his eyes and counted to ten.

“Hillary, you are pregnant already we needed to have another baby. It is too risky for you to have an abortion and try to start over. What if something goes wrong and you can’t get pregnant, you’ll never be able to live with yourself” she hated that he was right.  Before they could say anything, someone knocked on the door. In all the shock they had forgotten that they were still in the doctor’s office.

“We should be leaving and go see Chelsea” he agreed with her.

<><><><><><> 

She silently prayed for a quiet car ride, but he had other ideas.

“When do you want to talk to Marissa and Daren?” she sighed loudly.

“Do we have to keep talking about this? And what even makes you think we need to speak to Daren and Marissa, this baby may not even be yours. Did you stop to think about that?” Bill began to laugh and shook his head. She looked over to the driver’s side at him.

“Because I know you, so I know the baby is mine.  You would have never had unprotected sex with ….him” he said with disgust unable to say Daren’s name, as he gave her a hard stare before turning back towards the road. She too knew the baby was Bill’s. The last time she had been with Daren was well after she was already pregnant. The thought that she had sex with another man while carrying Bill’s child unnerved her for some reason. “I guess your silence confirms what we both know.”

“Don’t, I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“Ignoring it isn’t going to make it go away.  You ignoring your symptoms didn’t make it go away” he was challenging her now. He wondered if she had an inkling.

“I did not ignore symptoms, I hadn’t thought anything about being late because I’m so stressed, so I was not in denial about something because I didn’t know” she felt she had the upper hand now and maybe he would shut up.

“Well that may be the case but right now you are trying to ignore the reality” Hillary bit down on her bottom lip. “Hillary, seriously we need to talk about this. What are we going to do?” she slammed her fist down on the car door.

“I don’t fucking know William! Stop nagging at me, do you think I wanted this? I was reluctant to even have a baby period, and now this. It’s going to ruin everything, you can never let me be happy you always have to come in and destroy my life!” Bill pulled off to a shoulder on the highway, placing the car in park and he turned to her. Hillary refused to look at him. He reached over and grabbed her shoulders and yanked her body around.

“Don’t you fucking dare sit there and try to act like this is all my fault. If you were so happy in your little life with your boyfriend your legs wouldn’t have fallen open so easily for me. Whether you like or not we made a baby and we must face the consequences, but we can also help our daughter, sooner rather than later. No matter how much you want to whine and blame I refuse to be upset that we can save Chelsea’s life. And I’m certainly not going to feel bad for what happened, and I will not take the blame solely you were more than a willing participant on more than one occasion, hell you were the aggressor a few times” her breath caught in her throat not thinking he’d ever bring up the time Marissa was out of town and she slid into bed with him, without a care in the world as she rode him till they both reached completion. He waited for her to say something when she remained silent he turned back forward, placed the car in drive and pulled off the side back into traffic. The remainder of the ride to the hospital was made in silence.

<><><><><><><><> 

“Thank you for meeting me” she said as she looked around.

“What is this about?” Daren slid in the booth across from Marissa.

“I think you know” he did in fact know but he wanted to make sure she did as well. “We have to stop them from going through with the baby plan. It will ruin everything!” she realized she was drawing attention to herself and she lowered her voice.

“We are on the same page then. I refuse to let this happen. Hillary and I have built a life together and no one is going to stand in my way of having her” Marissa’s eyes went wide when he suddenly changed right before her eyes. The anger was palatable.

“What do you suggest we do?”

“I don’t know what you can do about your husband, but I have plans of my own to stop this from happening.”

“Care to let me in on the little secret?”

“No, I don’t care to let you in, you’ll know it though. In the meantime, keep your husband away from her” he slid out of the booth quickly, leaving Marissa confused about what had just taken place. She wasn’t sure what his plan was, but she knew that she had to think of something. She wasn’t willing to admit why she felt so strongly against this idea or what she suspected was going on instead she rationalized that the optics for his campaign was bad and she had to help him.

<><><><><><><><> 

He was gone again, out campaigning. Normally she would be upset but she needed this time away from him. He was suffocating her. Chelsea was showing some improvement, but she still needed to remain in the hospital and a bone marrow donor had been located. Although she couldn’t have the procedure until she was healthy enough, well as healthy as she could be in this situation.

Hillary decided to take a rare opportunity to relax at her hotel. Chelsea was napping when she left the hospital, and probably would be for awhile after the medication she’d been given. She was stretched out on the sofa, eyes feeling heavy when her phone started to ring. Hillary grumbled her disapproval before reaching over to the side table and grabbing it. She was about to silence the ringer when she saw it was Daren, she hadn’t really talked to him a lot lately, she felt terribly guilty about her situation. Hillary slid her finger across the screen and put the phone to her ear.

She tried to put on a happy voice although her insides were roiling with turmoil. She talked to him for ten minutes and was a bit surprised that his main reason for calling was for business purposes. He said he had a client that could use Hillary’s legal expertise. Hillary agreed to take a meeting with the person, but Daren was insistent that she come to New York to meet with him. Despite her objections, she felt obligated to help him out, especially in the condition that she was in. She agreed to come to New York just for one day to have the meeting with his client. When she hung up with him she called Bill immediately and told him that when he was back she needed to go back to New York. He certainly wasn’t happy, but she could surmise from the background noise that he wasn’t alone and couldn’t react the way she knew he wanted to.

Bill was still doing well in the polls and the idea of him becoming president was becoming more of a reality every day. She thought about Marissa being his first lady. Hillary swallowed the lump in her throat and laid her head back against the sofa, a single tear streaked down her face and she let it. She had never really mourned the loss of her marriage. Had just gone from being his wife to his ex-wife without much thought. Now that she knew that he hadn’t cheated she couldn’t hold onto the anger and disgust that had been fueling her existence all these years. That didn’t change anything, he was still her ex, he was still married to someone else, and he still didn’t love her. She let out a shaky breath before standing from the sofa and deciding to lay down in the bed.

<><><><><><><><><> 

Hillary was exhausted when she finally got to her townhouse. Daren had been calling her nearly non-stop for the last three days. She’d told him many times that she couldn’t leave until Bill came back. Once he was back she hopped on a plane, she made sure to avoid seeing Bill because she knew he was pissed not because she was going to New York but the reasons she was going.

She was on her way into her house when Daren appeared.

“Hillary” she jumped and turned to him.

“What are you doing here?” she wasn’t sure why, but she felt uneasy by his presence.

“I was waiting on you since you told me I didn’t have to pick you up” he moved up the stairs until he was inches from her. He pulled her into a tight hug. “I’ve missed you so much, but I’m so glad you are back” he whispered into her hair as his hand rubbed her back. Hillary untangled herself from his embrace.

“The meeting is tomorrow right?”

“Yeah, tomorrow” she turned and entered her house, Daren right behind her. “Have you eaten yet?” at the thought of food her stomach flip flopped. The last week had been rough. It was almost as if finding out she was pregnant turned on her morning sickness, which was more like morning, noon, and night sickness.

“Yes, I did” she lied. She didn’t want to get sick in front of him. Hillary moved further into the house, all she really wanted to do was take a nap.

“How about a movie, or something?”

“We can just stay in and watch something on tv. I’m pretty tired” he looked disappointed. He liked to see and be seen.

“Ok, sure” Hillary went up to her bedroom and he stayed in the family room. When she came back downstairs he was on the sofa and she sat next to him. Daren reached over and pulled her closer. Hillary tried to relax into his embrace, but she couldn’t.

He noticed her reluctance to let him touch her, his jaw flexed but he kept his anger to himself. He began to massage her shoulders. “Love you are so tense” she let herself enjoy the shoulder massage that he was giving her. He felt her start to relax under his touch and that made him feel better. He leaned down and began to kiss her neck. Hillary wasn’t comfortable, but his massage was lulling her to sleep. Daren realized her body went limp and he pulled away from her. Hillary slid over to her side, completely asleep. He stood from the sofa, his frame perched over her prone body. His nose flare and he bit his bottom lip until he tasted blood. He stared angrily at her for a few minutes, before turning and leaving her house. The front door slam caused Hillary to jump up. She looked around, confused about what was going on. She stood and went in search of Daren, quickly realizing he’d left. Hillary frowned in confusion that he had left without saying anything to her. She shrugged it off and decided it was time for her to go to bed.

<><><><><><><><><> 

She was up early the next morning. She’d called Daren a few times trying to get details on this meeting, but each time his phone rang until she went to voicemail. Hillary huffed as she sent him yet another text. She paced her kitchen, becoming angrier by the minute.

“Daren can you please call me and tell me the details for this meeting?” she said in yet another voicemail. Hillary blew out a few calming breaths and tried to rationalize that he had to have a reason for not answering her, maybe he was in a meeting.

It was after four thirty and she surmised that the meeting would not take place and she had not heard from Daren. Hillary stomped up to her bedroom to change into some lounge clothes. She was beyond annoyed with this entire situation. She thought to herself that he better have a good explanation for everything.

Daren knew that Hillary was calling and texting him all day about the meeting that did not exist. He smirked as he pierced another condom with a needle and placed it into the box with the others. He’d only used the ruse of a meeting to get her here. He had to get her out of Arkansas and back to New York to clear her head so that she could see that he was the best man for her. That their life could be so perfect without all the ties to Bill. He placed the box of condoms into his briefcase and headed out his door.

Hillary was snacking on cucumbers and carrots, two of the rare things that didn’t make her sick on her stomach. She was still angry with Daren and had not heard from him. Her doorbell rang, she intuitively knew it was him. Hillary stalked to the door, there he stood pacing and looking annoyed. She wrinkled her forehead wandering why he’d be annoyed. Hillary opened the door and before she could say anything he launched into a tirade.

“Fuck Hillary, what the hell?” he brushed roughly past her.

“Excuse me.”

“Do you know how stupid you’ve made me look?” he was yelling at her and she was too stunned by his reaction to say anything. “I told you the meeting started at nine thirty. If you weren’t going to show up you should have just said so.”

“Wait a minute Daren I’ve been calling you all day, I left several messages. You never told me what time the meeting was.”

“Really, Hillary? I text you the details two days ago” she shook her head before going to her phone. When her back was to him he couldn’t keep the grin off his face. Hillary’s heart fell into her feet. There on her phone was a message from him telling her the details. She chewed her bottom lip. How had she missed this? He knew from her posture that she’d found the implanted message. It was useful having IT genius’ as clients. She turned to him regret coloring her features.

“Daren I don’t know how I missed this….. I- I’m so sorry. I hope this didn’t affect your relationship with your client” her genuine concern is what made him love her and one of the many reasons he could not let her go.

“No, I told him that you got called into a meeting at work. He understood because you were doing him a favor. Although he said he was going to speak to someone else” he could tell from her face that she believed him, although there was never a client. She moved close to him and hugged him tightly.

“I’m absolutely so sorry. It won’t happen again I promise” she stepped away from him. “I think my mind was just elsewhere, but why didn’t you call me back?” he scrunched his face up.

“I didn’t get any calls or text from you. It was radio silence” Hillary looked down confused. She grabbed her phone again.

“Look, I sent you…..” her voice trailed off when she saw there were no outgoing calls or text to him. He had to do everything not to burst out laughing at her expression. His mind flashed back to when she fell asleep on the sofa, giving him the perfect opportunity to install the software he’d been sent. His plan was working beautifully.

“It’s ok honey, you are under so much stress. I think you should stay here for a few days to relax and rest. You are no help to Chelsea as tired as you are. Who knows what kind of mistake you could make in your state” she was so confused about what was happening she knew that she called and texted Daren, but her phone was saying otherwise. Not only did she need to take care of herself for Chelsea, but for this baby she was carrying. Daren pulled her into an embrace. “Let me help you relax” she knew exactly what that meant. She wasn’t sure why she had such a difficult time being intimate with him and she couldn’t blame it entirely on the pregnancy. Even before she knew about the baby she was struggling. She took a deep breath and mentally chided herself he was her boyfriend, Bill was not hers, and she was ok with that she tried to convince herself. She continued her mental conversation as he led her up to the bedroom.

_Hillary it’s ok just do this. It’s not a big deal. You don’t belong to Bill he’s just the father of your children…._

She took a deep breath when he began to undress her.

_Don’t recoil, he has more a right to touch you than Bill. You only had sex with Bill because you needed comfort from someone who understood._

She came out of her mind when she felt him laying her down and realized they were both naked. His eyes roamed over her body and she wondered if he knew. She hadn’t started showing yet, but the guilt had her on edge and paranoid. He produced a condom, she wasn’t sure where it had come from, she wasn’t paying attention. Hillary tried to get her mind on the current situation so that she was prepared.

The nausea ran over her in waves as she felt him enter her body. Every part of her was screaming that this was wrong, but she shut it out and went through the motions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this chapter is pretty good I hope you all agree, but I think the upcoming ones are even better!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes another update this has to be some type of record. In reality it is a procrastination tactic, because I'm supposed to be writing my Dissertation Proposal.

Two Weeks Later

Hillary was back in Arkansas she hadn’t seen Bill since her return. He was still pissed that she went to New York and to be honest she wasn’t too happy with it either. Something just felt off to her, but she couldn’t figure out what it was. She patted her stomach, she was starting to get a little bump. Hillary showered and then dressed in a loose-fitting top and pants. She was going in for an ultrasound and to hear the baby’s heartbeat. They still had not figured out when they were going to tell Marissa and Daren about this.

When Hillary arrived, she knew he was already there. She saw the black SUV and then the agents that he’d been given as it got closer and closer to him securing the nomination. She took in a deep breath, the only solace she had was that they were in public and he wouldn’t make a scene. The nurse gave her a gown to change into before going into the room. When she came into the room, Bill was sitting there, legs and arms folded. Hillary hopped onto the table and the doctor began the exam. He placed a small object on her stomach and soon the room was filled with the sound of the baby’s heartbeat. Bill stood from his chair and hovered over Hillary. A tear streamed down her face and without thinking he leaned down and kissed the tear away, and then placed his forehead against hers. She grabbed his arm, thankful for his presence.

The doctor then started the ultrasound the wand moved over her belly and the little wiggly bean showed up on the screen. Both their breaths caught, Hillary bit her bottom lip trying to contain her emotions the doctor let them know that everything looked good, the baby was progressing normally. Her printed out two pictures for them. Hillary dressed as Bill waited for her.

“I was going to go over to the hospital.”

“Yes, I was as well but I drove, so I guess I’ll see you there” she couldn’t look him in the eye. She felt extremely uncomfortable with him and that did not go unnoticed by Bill.

<><><><><><><><><> 

Hillary came into Chelsea’s room; the little girl had beaten her infection and was due to have her transplant the next morning.

“Mama is it going to hurt?”

“Maybe just a little pinch. They’ll just put in an IV similar to what you have now. And then the little worker cells will go and start making you all better” Hillary leaned down and kissed her forehead, thankful that her lips weren’t met with scalding hot skin and Chelsea was on the mend from the virus she’d gotten. She sat up when there was a light tap on the door. She knew it wasn’t Bill because he wouldn’t knock. “Come in”, Roger stuck his head in. She hadn’t seen in a long time and as far as she knew this was the first time he was visiting Chelsea.

“Is it a good time?” she waved him in.

“Your brother should be here soon.”

“Yeah I passed him in the hallway. He had to take a call. How is my Chels bear?” she lit up when her uncle came in. He hugged her and gave her a bear he’d brought for her. She hugged it tightly. “You like that?” she nodded emphatically. Bill slipped into the room and the tension immediately descended upon Bill and Hillary. Roger noticed the immediate change in both of them and filed it away for later.

Roger stayed with Chelsea for nearly an hour until her yawns signaled that she needed some rest. Hillary decided to go back to the hotel to work on a few cases she’d picked up while in New York. They weren’t going to require her to be in person and she needed the distraction. She said goodbye to everyone. Once Bill and Roger left a now sleeping Chelsea, Roger stopped his brother before he left.

“Hey, can I talk to you for a second?” he nodded and followed him into a lounge. Once they were inside Roger turned to him. “How long you and Hillary been fucking?” he said deadpan and Bill nearly choked on his own saliva.

“I’m sorry?”

“Come on now Bill. I’m your little brother and I know you. So how long?” Bill knew he couldn’t fool his brother.

“We aren’t currently, but we did for a while” Roger’s brows shot up.

“So, you dumping that twit and getting back with Hillary? Clearly she knows you didn’t cheat.”

“No, I am not divorcing Marissa” Roger frowned.

“Why? It is clear you two are absolutely in love with one another.”

“I’m….” he stopped what he was saying. “You know what I have so much to do. Only a few more weeks before the nomination is secured, and I have a lot to do plus I have to be back here early in the morning” the brothers parted ways, and Bill headed to the mansions, Roger’s words playing over and over in his head. Was it possible that Hillary was still in love with him? He’d briefly contemplated that, but then he immediately shrugged it off.

<><><><><><><><><> 

Two Weeks Later

Bill secured the nomination and he was ecstatic although he knew a long road was still ahead of him. Chelsea responded favorably to the bone marrow transplant and was allowed to leave the hospital. In a few weeks Hillary was going to be evaluated for a possible amniotic stem cell transplant that would further Chelsea’s recovery.

Marissa came into Bill’s study looking for a cell phone charger. She’d been on her phone non-stop since he secured the nomination, talking to family, friends, and trying to get all the interviews set up. She was after all about to be the next first lady, that she had no doubt about. She didn’t immediately see his charger, but she knew he kept one in his drawer. Marissa moved behind his desk and pulled out a drawer. She pushed things aside looking for a charger with no luck. She opened and closed several drawers before she came to the last one. She pulled out a leather bound book and was about to look for a charger when something fell out of it and slid underneath the side of the desk. She dropped to her knees and reached underneath, her hand coming in contact with a glossy slip of paper. Marissa pulled it out and her mouth fell open when she saw what it was.

She looked up at the corner and saw Rodham, H and a date that was two weeks ago. Her mind started to whirl, why would Bill have this? Is this why there hadn’t been further talk about having another baby because Hillary was already pregnant? She could tell that from the ultrasound she was some weeks along. Marissa stood up on wobbly legs and sat heavily in his chair her hands still clutching the picture. Her heart thudded in her chest, maybe she gave them to him to prove that she was pregnant and that is why they couldn’t have a baby, the baby had to be Daren’s, but why hadn’t Bill said anything to her about all of this? Marissa closed her eyes, there was only one explanation and it was one that she was fighting to admit. She heard voices out in the hall and she quickly rearranged his desk putting everything back as she found it. Marissa rushed out of his office charger forgotten.

When she saw Bill, pacing the living room, polling numbers in his hands, she saw red. She wanted to go to him confront him with what she knew, make him explain himself, but she decided against it. No, this was her chance to make sure that he turned his back on Hillary once and for all and became loyal to her and only her. Bill looked up when he heard her approach and he had to fight the frown that was playing at his face when he saw the vacant look in her eyes. Momentarily he thought the worse but when she smiled up at him he decided he was just overreacting. Once she was out of his eye line the smile dropped from her face and the calculating began.

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots happening here, I have one more chapter written but I have returned to be being a dutiful student so unfortunately the weekly updates will probably come to an end after Chapter 13.

He was nearly jumping for joy as he went over his speech backstage. He was about to informally accept the nomination. The day was almost perfect, but Chelsea had not been able to make the trip. Before he was set to go on a reporter approached him.

“Governor Clinton, you are about to go out there and informally accept the Democratic nomination for president and you will only be the third youngest man to do so how does that feel?”

“My age aside, this is one of the most important times of my life. I am so thankful for all the voters, all the volunteers, my campaign staff, and last but certainly not least my family for being patient all these months that I had to be away for days at a time.”

“Speaking of family, congratulations you and your wife are expecting” Bill couldn’t keep the frown off his face. The reporter noted his confusion.

“The announcement was made moments ago, and we caught up with your wife who confirmed the happy news” Bill nodded, he stole a glance George and James’ way. They too looked lost. Bill conducted the rest of the interview, but his mind was firmly on what the reporter said about a baby. As soon as the interview was over he stalked over to James and George.

“What the hell is going on?” they both shook their heads. “Where did this shit come from?” They directed him to a television that was running a story about their impending baby, complete with an ultrasound picture, the top where Hillary’s name was cut off. Bill’s nose flared. “Where is she?” he growled out.

“Bill, you don’t have time” he whipped around.

“She isn’t pregnant, and I don’t know where this is coming from. Where is she?” George sighed before showing him where she was. He took large steps until he reached her, grabbing her arm and yanking her into an empty conference room. “What the fuck do you think you are doing, telling people you’re pregnant?” he wasn’t going to mention the ultrasound picture. He wanted to know just how much she knew and how much of a role she had in all of this.

“You can’t leave me now. The poor wife, who miscarries after all the stress of the campaign. You can’t just turn around and say oh well my ex-wife is pregnant with my child” he didn’t give anything away with his face. “I know Bill, I found that ultrasound picture in your desk, and I was in denial. I thought there is no way that Bill has done this to me, but then it all started to come together. I was so stupid, so so stupid. Was the artificial insemination all a ruse to cover up the fact that you knocked your ex-wife up!” he was still unmoved by her outburst.

“What do you hope to accomplish with this lie?” he was too calm for her liking.

“I won’t let her have what is mine, being first lady. If you don’t agree to go along with this I will tell the world what a liar you are, a cheater. That you turned your back on me after you found out I couldn’t carry a child to term” Bill scoffed.

“And how will you cover this ruse you’ve started already Marissa?”

“I had a miscarriage and now I’m unable to get pregnant at all” she smirked at him. “I’ve never not gotten my way and I’m not about to start now” he stepped closer to her and suddenly the bravado she had was gone as his broad frame towered over her.

“Don’t make this hard for everyone, mostly you Marissa. If you decide to go through with this…plan of yours. Just remember you lose too, you won’t get the coveted position of first lady, and as soon as this is over I’ll divorce you and run for re-election as governor and you get nothing” he sneered at her. It was at this moment he realized that he didn’t love her and hadn’t for a long time if ever. He filled the hole in his heart with Marissa. That what happened between he and Hillary was because he was still in love with her, that had never changed and never would.

“You think it is going to be that easy? You will give me what I deserve since you have been fucking around on me. And you think that Daren is going to just let you be with her?” Bill had begun to turn around, but he whipped back around.

“What is that supposed to mean?” she shrugged but smirked. He grabbed her shoulders. “What does that mean?” his eyes had become nearly black as his pupils dilated. She snatched away from him.

“You’ll see” she stated patting him on the shoulder as she walked out of the room. As soon as she left she let out a shaky breath. She knew she was playing with fire and she just prayed Daren could keep Hillary in line.

<><><><><><><><><><> 

He eyed her up and down. Hillary noticed he was staring at her and she fought to not squirm under his intense scrutiny. She was showing and she wondered if he noticed. She couldn’t believe that she and Bill had let this go so far. They should have come clean weeks ago, way before Marissa pulled her little stunt. She was livid at first thinking that Bill had been careless and gotten her pregnant, but she immediately recognized that the ultrasound picture was her own and she put two and two together.

“It’s amazing that Bill and Marissa are having a baby” he waited for her reaction. He had to give it to Marissa she was smarter than he realized. Getting pregnant to trap Bill and stop him from having a baby with Hillary. His plan was also going well except she hadn’t become pregnant yet. Which concerned him. He knew it wasn’t him, he’d been check so the problem lay with her.

“Yes, he’s always wanted more children” she mumbled. Her stomach lurched at the thought although she knew it wasn’t true.

“You know for a second I thought he was trying to get back with you, but it’s obvious that he loves her” she felt him looking at her again.

“Are you ok?” she turned and asked him.

“Absolutely, I’m with my love. So, when you all were thinking about having a baby together, did you have any tests done?” she couldn’t help it she squirmed. Hillary placed her hand on her neck and swallowed.

“Why do you ask?”

“I was wondering what the process is for all of that and is that why the two of you didn’t go through with it.”

“Are you asking me if there is something wrong with me?” she was annoyed.

“Well, yeah. I know Bill is fine he knocked Marissa up, but what about you?”

“We didn’t get that far, things became hectic and both of us was side tracked” she lied.

“You don’t know if you can have a baby?” she frowned.

“What difference does it make? You and I aren’t trying to have a baby. You don’t want kids and aside from doing what I need to for Chelsea, I don’t want more” she hated saying that and hoped her baby didn’t hear that. She wanted this baby, with all her heart and for deeper reasons than just helping Chelsea. “Which speaking of I need to get her over to the mansion” Hillary moved away from him and went to get her daughter read to go visit her dad who was returning from his campaign stops.

<><><><><><><><><> 

The mansion was abuzz with activity. It had become a satellite campaign headquarter. Hillary was nervous for Chelsea to be around so many people, her immune system was still not one hundred percent. She held Chelsea’s shoulders as the little girl stood in front of her mom, with a mask on and watching all the activity.

“Let’s go find your dad” she nodded, and Hillary grabbed her hand and went in search of Bill. She found him in his study, with a bunch of other people. He jumped from his chair when he saw his little girl and walked quickly to her. He bent down and hugged her lifting her off the ground. He wanted to plant a big one on her, but he knew better. Chelsea giggled happy to see her dad.

“You are looking beautiful my girl” he said holding her close to him. Marissa stood over to the side eyeing them. The fact that he kept his eyes on Hillary as he held Chelsea close did not go unnoticed by her. Hillary felt his gaze raking up and down her body, spending some time at her midsection which was expanding slowly but surely. He put Chelsea down and told his staff to take a break, so he could spend some time with Chelsea. Hillary planned to drop Chelsea off and go back to the hotel, but once she was near him she couldn’t leave. She knew Daren would be wondering where she was, but she just couldn’t will herself to go.

Hillary found a quiet spot in a back bedroom away from all the hubbub, Chelsea stayed with Bill perched on his lap and on his hip as he moved about. She didn’t want to be away from him and he didn’t want to be away from her. Hillary spent her time going over case files preparing to get back to her life in New York. As she figured Daren had been texting her and she could feel his annoyance with her through the text. She sat up and stretched the muscles in her back.

“I remember you had muscle cramps when you were pregnant with Chelsea” he startled her, she looked over at him standing the door. Bill moved from the door and closed it. Hillary looked nervously at the door.

“Shouldn’t you be out there with your team?  And where is Chelsea?”

“I need a break, a quiet place. Looks like you were thinking the same and she is taking a nap” she remained quiet as he came closer. Her heart began to race.

“We haven’t had a chance to talk” he knew what she meant. He sat in the chair opposite the sofa she was on.

“She found the ultrasound picture in my desk and decided to blackmail me” he smiled sarcastically.

“So, what are we going to do?”

“I have no idea Hillary. Have you told Daren?” he knew from the guilty look that she hadn’t.

“You know, Marissa said something to me that didn’t sit well.”

“What was that?”

“That Daren wouldn’t let me have you. When I asked her what she meant she wouldn’t elaborate” Hillary’s eyes shifted, and Bill sat up in his chair. “What’s going on? Has he hurt you?” she could tell he was getting angry. His protective nature still firmly in place.

“No, no nothing like that. He’s great he hasn’t hurt me” her voice was too high for his liking.

“Tell me the truth. Did he do something to you?” she took a deep breath.

“It’s just that…..” she frowned trying to put her feelings into words. “I swear sometimes when I’m around him I’m going crazy” he remained silent letting her work through her thoughts. “He…I forget stuff a lot or….. I don’t know how to say it Bill. I just feel so incompetent all of a sudden he always has to correct me or remind me of things he said I knew but I don’t remember knowing it” she threw her hands up in frustration. Bill didn’t like the sound of this one bit. “Maybe I’m just under so much stress” he knew she was about to start blaming herself, but he wouldn’t let her.

“When did this start Hillary?”

“It’s nothing Bill” she tried to wave him off.

 “No, it is something Hillary. Tell me when did this start?” she became irritated with him.

“I’m not your responsibility Bill and I don’t have to tell you anything” he was shocked by her sudden change in behavior. “Daren said that you only want to control me, and I think he is right” Bill stood up and started pacing.

“Hillary don’t you see what is going on? He’s trying to turn you against me by making you question yourself and your sanity” she shook her head in the negative. “Is that why you haven’t told him about the baby?” she remained silent.

“Why does it matter Bill? It’s not like we can tell the world about this baby and then you’ll come back to me and we ride off into the sunset” as soon as it was out of her mouth she regretted it. He’d turned and started pacing but whipped back around at her words.

“Is that what you want?” she stood and began gathering her things. He came to her and grabbed her arm turning her around to face him. His face only inches from her. “Is that what you want Hillary? Do you want me to come back to you?” he said the last part in a hoarse whisper his heart to scared to hope.

“Does it matter what I want?”

“It matters to me” she searched his eyes, wondering if this was some type of trick, but what she saw scared her even more.

“You don’t love me anymore I understand that, and we have both moved on.”

“You don’t believe that, you know how I feel about you, how I’ve always felt about you” at least he hoped she did.

“You’re remarried and as far as the world is concerned you two are having a baby. Although I don’t know how that is going to work, unless….” he interrupted her.

“She isn’t pregnant I haven’t been with her since you and I was first together” she looked away guiltily and he noticed. He released her arm and stepped away. “I see well I’m glad I didn’t throw it all away, look I need to get back to work” he made it to the door and turned the handle pulling the door open slightly when she came to him and grabbed his hand.

“What do you mean, you are glad you didn’t throw it all away?” she searched his eyes begging him for the truth. He swallowed tired of the games.

“I’m still in love with you Hillary and I’d give up all this to have you as my wife again” her breath caught she stepped away from him shocked that he’d actually said it, overjoyed that he’d said it. He misread her reaction and shook his head and began to turn away again. She realized what he must be thinking. She stepped close to him, grabbing his face and turning it towards her. She pressed her mouth to his. Bill wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tightly to his body, her fingers raked through his hair. They didn’t break apart until they needed air.

“I’m still in love with you” she whispered against his lips. “I never stopped loving you and I tried to deny it, tried to say it was just a physical attraction, but I knew better. I want to be with you. I want our family me, you, Chelsea, and this baby, but I know we can’t right now” he pressed his forehead to hers, knowing she was right.

“I so badly want to figure out a way around this. When I walk out on stage for the first time as the president elect I want you by myside When I get sworn in I want you to hold the bible and I want to have my first dance with you as my first lady, but I know I can’t, we can’t” she nodded regretfully. Hillary stepped out of his embrace.

“I should be getting back, I’ll get Chelsea.”

“Let her stay here.”

“Ok, well I should be going” Hillary pulled open the office door which she noticed was slightly ajar, but she didn’t think twice about it. Bill calmed himself before exiting as well and going back to his study.

<><><><><><><><><> 

She arrived back to her hotel room. She was so tired but felt a lightness. Although being with Bill again wasn’t going to be possible just the knowledge that he was still in love with her made her heart sing. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts she didn’t notice Daren sitting in the corner until he turned on the lamp. She jumped a little and turned to him “what are you doing sitting in the dark?” she stated. He remained silent and she felt uneasy.

“You think I’m stupid don’t you, both you and hillbilly Bill?” she opened and closed her mouth confused about what was happening. He stood from the chair.

“Now I know why I haven’t been able to get you pregnant, because you’re already pregnant by your fucking ex-husband!” his booming voice made her jump. She wasn’t sure how he knew, but her mind flashed back to the slightly open door.

“Were you at the mansion?”

“Oh, so you aren’t even going to try to deny it.”

“I’m sorry Daren, this is not what I wanted to happen or how I wanted you to find out” she thought about what he’d just said. “What did you mean about trying to get me pregnant?”

“I wasn’t like this before Hillary. I was upstanding and mild mannered, gentle. You turned me into this you and him!” he shouted pointing at her. Hillary felt uneasy with him. He began to move closer to her. “You two and your little games not caring who gets hurt. Was Marissa and I just pawns in this Bill and Hillary chess game?”

“Daren that is not…”

“Just shut up! Shut up with your lies! I tried to give you a chance to see things my way, but you were too stupid to do what I wanted you had to go running back to him!”

<><><><><><><><><> 

Bill came back into the room, he’d sat his reading glasses down and left them. Before he left the room, he noticed Hillary left one of her files. He figured she would probably need it. He could have sent someone to take it back, but he decided he would. He let his agents know he needed to go out and instructed his team to find out what room she was staying in. When everything was ready he left the house.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is all manner of what not in this chapter, also it is the last one I have written. Hope you all enjoy.

Daren advanced on her and pulled her flush against him, his hands roamed all over her body. She knew this wasn’t right. She pushed hard on his chest. “What the fuck is your problem? I can’t touch you now?” he growled at her and gripped her shoulders tightly before pushing her away.

“Why are you acting like this?” Daren began to pace.

“Because my girlfriend would rather fuck her ex than me. That’s why Hillary” she recoiled at his anger.

“Daren I really didn’t mean to hurt you please….” the sides of his mouth quirked up.

“Let me clue you in on something. You aren’t as good as you think you are, I can see right through you.”

“I am sorry for hurting you”

“Get over yourself Hillary!” her mouth fell open slightly, but she remained silent. Before she had a chance to react he grabbed her again and pulled her roughly against him. Her heart began to thud in her chest. He began to kiss and nip at her neck. Hillary started pushing at him, but his hold only tightened.

“Daren, stop” he didn’t listen to her. He squeezed her ass tightly. She continued to squirm trying to get away from him. He pulled away momentarily his hands went to her shirt. Her mind started to go into overdrive she couldn’t believe this was happening.

“You know you want this Hillary stop trying to fight me” he pushed her down onto the sofa and was on her before she could get up. Hillary slapped at him, trying to grab and scratch whatever she could. She began to scream his hand grabbed her breast and squeezed it tightly while the other made its way down her body and inside her pants. Her legs kicked, and she tried to push him off.

“No, no stop Daren please don’t do this!” he sat up and began unfastening his pants.

“I’m going to show you that I can be a real man just like him. You seem to like a man that treats you badly, so I can be that man” he laid back on her, his lips came against hers roughly. She wasn’t sure how, but the next thing she knew Daren was sailing through the air. Hillary came out of her shock and sat up and saw Bill standing over him, punching Daren.  There was blood streaming from the cuts in his face.

“Bill, stop!” Hillary jumped from the sofa and ran to him. She tried to pull him away, but she couldn’t “Please Bill you have to stop” she grabbed his arm, the agents heard Hillary’s voice and came rushing through the door. He’d asked them to wait outside for him when he came into the room never in a million years thinking he was going to find what he did.  They pulled him off Daren. Bill looked over at Hillary.

“Baby did he hurt you?” he pulled her tightly against him and stroked her hair. Daren staggered to his feet.

“You think you will get away with this, I’m sure the voters would like to know about your jealous temper and that bastard child” he dabbed at his busted lip. Bill let go of Hillary and made a move towards Daren, but his agents stepped in front of him.

“Don’t Bill” she implored him.

“They won’t care when Hillary presses charges for attempted rape” he looked at her she looked uncertain.

“She isn’t because she wanted it, but I will be pressing charges against you.”

“Sir, what would you like us to do?” Bill was becoming increasingly agitated again.

“He was trying to force himself on her, what do you think?” the agent nodded his head and grabbed Daren. Once he left Bill turned to Hillary.

“Baby what happened?”

“I am not your responsibility William! Why can’t you just leave me alone?” his brows quirked up. He was shocked at this turn.

“You would have rather I not have stopped him from doing what he was trying to do?”

“You know I don’t mean this evening but stop trying to take care of me. Go home to your little wife and leave me the hell alone!”

“You’re angry with me? What changed between now and earlier when we talked?” he was confused by her behavior.

“My life was going along well. I was healing after our divorce and you had to push your way back into my life.”

“This shit again Hillary. You know what yeah I’m leaving and going home to a woman who at least appreciates me because that isn’t you” Hillary started thinking about Daren coming back and she became afraid. She pushed it down not wanting Bill to know. He turned back to face her before leaving and his heart broke. She was trying to be strong, but he knew better.

“Come here” he said softly. She launched herself into his arms and held him tightly as she finally broke down with her face buried in his shirt, she cried until it was soaked with her tears.

“Please don’t go.”

“I won’t leave you I promise” he kept that promise at this moment nothing and no one else mattered to him but her. He held her as she slept restlessly and soothed her when she woke up terrified. He knew that he would do whatever he could to make sure she was safe from now on.

She woke up in a terrified cold sweat and Bill held her to his body, he caressed her back.

“It’s ok my love I’m here.”

“Bill” she looked up at him. “Why were you here tonight?”

“You left one of your files at the house and I thought I’d bring it to you. When I came in the man at the front desk gave me the key, perks of being the Governor” she nodded against his chest.

“Bill, make love to me” he was surprised at that request.

“Sweetie not tonight” she sat up and kissed him.

“I want to feel good like only you can make me feel” he caressed her hip trying to fight the shiver of desire that ran through him.

He moved his mouth over hers. Bill gently bit her bottom lip and sucked on it. Her hands went around his neck and rubbed through his soft hair. He released her lip and slid his tongue into her mouth. She moaned. Suddenly he flipped her onto her back and hovered over her, before letting his hand caress down her body.  He moved his hands to her thighs and began to pull her nightgown up. Once it was up around her waist he gripped her thighs. Bill kissed her jawline. He licked down to her neck where he bit and sucked until he left a mark on her. He pulled away from her and looked her in her eyes.

“You are so beautiful” he said before leaning in and kissing her again. He reached down and grabbed the waist band of her panties. He pulled them down. “Lift up.” she did as she was told, and he pulled her panties down her legs and off. Bill slid down her body until he reached her parted legs. He leaned in and smelled her sweetness.

His tongue darted out and ran along her wet slit. She fell back against the pillow overwhelmed by the exquisite feeling. He parted her lips and delved in deeper with his stiff tongue. He licked her from top to bottom paying close attention to her hard nub. He sucked and lightly nibbled on it. Hillary thought she would die from the pleasure. She lifted her leg up and her foot dug into his shoulder. Her heel ground into him with each swipe of his tongue.

“Fuck Bill oh my that feels so damn good” she grabbed a fist full of his hair as he continued to move his mouth against her most sensitive area. Hillary’s hips began to ride his face. “So, fucking close” she whispered. She felt the pleasurable heat start to spread through her body. He slid a finger into her wet opening and curled it until he found her g-spot. She nearly bolted off the bed when the first wave of pleasure shot through her body. Her leg was pressing down hard on his shoulder and she was biting her lip to try not to scream out. He continued to suck her clit and move his finger against her g-spot until he felt it harden and swell. He pressed down on her spot and used his stiff tongue to lick underneath the hood of her clit. That was her undoing.

“Bill I’m cumming! Bill it’s so good oh my God you are so good” he lapped at her juices as she came down from her orgasm. She lay back on the pillow with her eyes closed. Her chest was heaving from the exertion of her intense orgasm. When she opened her eyes, he was hovering over her and staring with a grin on his face. He leaned in and kissed her, she tasted herself on his lips.

“You taste so good” he murmured against her lips. Hillary trailed her hand down to the waistband of his boxers. He’d stripped down to just his undershirt and boxers before they got into bed. He hadn’t brought a change of clothes because he didn’t plan on staying.

“I want to feel you inside of me” his index finger trailed down her face.

“You should get some rest” she looked up at him with pleading big blue eyes.

“I need to be one with you, please” the last thing he wanted was for her to beg. He leaned down and began to kiss her softy.

"God, I want you so bad Hill" he said as he kissed down her face to her neck. Hillary pulled his shirt up and over his head. Bill did the same with her gown. "You are so beautiful" he said before crushing her body back to his. He licked and sucked her collarbone before making his way up to her neck. She threw her head back giving him better access. Bill's hands gripped her ass. She was magnificent. He bent down and took a hard rosebud between his teeth. Her breath caught, and she let out a moan.

She pushed his boxers down his legs and there he was in all his naked glory. Hillary's eyes devoured him. He was beautiful. He looked her in the eyes as he slowly stroked himself, growing harder and longer in his hands. Bill bent down and opened her legs. Her lips glistening with her need.

"Bill please" her breathless plea made him harden further. Hillary grabbed him by the neck and pulled him down to her. His tongue slid into her hot mouth and rubbed against hers. Hillary reached down and grabbed his cock, jerking him a couple times Bill knew if she continued he was going to lose control.

He disengaged the kiss and removed her hand. Hillary opened her legs wider ready to receive him. He positioned himself at her entrance and looked her in the eyes as he began to slowly sink into her tight heat. Hillary's nails dug into his flesh as her already sensitive nerves were stimulated further by his hardness. Bill's movements were slow and deliberate. He looked Hillary in the eyes the entire time. She rubbed her hand up and down his back and her leg tightly wound around his waist.

He could tell they wouldn't last long, the feeling of her tight slick heat surrounding him was too much. Hillary clenched down on him as he grazed her spot.  They both felt their resolve start to crumble. Bill began to rise and fall at a faster pace. Hillary grabbed the hair at the nape of his neck and held on for dear life when he started to move his hips in a circular motion. He bent down and licked the side of her face before taking her ear lobe between his teeth and biting down. Hillary's mouth fell slightly open as her eyes fluttered shut from the intense sensations. She clenched tighter around him, tighter than either thought possible, but he continued to stroke her through the vice like grip of her walls. Her orgasm hit her over and over and her essence gathered around his dick and flowed onto the sheets.

"Fuck me Bill! Your dick is so good. Fuck!" Bill stilled his motions momentarily because felt himself about to go over the edge.

"Hillary you feel amazing. So fucking tight. I'm so close" Bill stated through gritted teeth.

She squeezed herself against him and he could only moan and close his eyes tightly. Bill's movements started to pick up again. He lifted himself onto his forearms and began to move in and out of Hillary earnestly. The headboard hit the wall and the sound of their slick skin coming together and moans and grunts filled the room.  Her legs squeezed his waist and her fingernails went deeper into the flesh of his shoulders. Bill bit her jaw line as his orgasm hit, he groaned her name, she came for the third time as his hot essence filled her. 

He gently laid down on top of her as they struggled to catch their breaths. His hips slowly continued to move against hers. His softening cock still buried within her heat. Hillary's heart was thudding against his chest. She lazily stroked his hair as he placed soft kisses along her collarbone before rolling off her and pulling her into his embrace.  She snuggled closer to him as he pulled the covers over their cooling bodies.

"I love you Hillary" he stated tiredly.

"I love you Bill" Hillary murmured against his chest. Bill kissed the top of her head no other words needed to be said as they basked in their afterglow and began to fall asleep. They both knew that life was going to be exponentially worst in the morning but for now they would enjoy the time they had together.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are going to start taking a few twisty turns. Of course I just can't write a straight romance fic.

“I want to divorce Marissa” he suddenly blurted out. The room became silent, everyone started looking around.

“What, no Bill….. no no no this… no you can’t” George stated nervously and exasperated.

“Why not? I can’t keep living this lie. I have to get out of this marriage.”

“As far as the public knows she’s pregnant you cannot divorce her.”

“Well I’ll tell the truth, that she isn’t and Hillary is” James coughed on the gulp of black coffee he’d just taken.

“What does that have to do with you?” George was scared to even ask. Bill looked at him with an expression that told the story.

“Jesus Christ man are you insane?” James exclaimed. The room went silent again. Bill hung his head knowing he had put his team in a bad position.

“I need to figure this out before the baby comes.”

“Why didn’t you tell us that you and Hillary were….” George couldn’t say the word or words.

“That’s not exactly something you just blurt out in the middle of a staff meeting. We can spin it though” he hated himself for what was about to come out of his mouth but there was no other way.

<><><><><> 

“So, you want us to tell the country that you and your ex are having a baby for the purpose of saving your daughter with leukemia that you’ve kept a secret? Do I have that right?” James was on another level of irritation with Bill.

“I think that is the only option” Bill rubbed his bottom lip.

“And what about Marissa? How do we manage this pregnancy?” George stated with air quotes.

“That’s the reason for the divorce. She lied to me to prevent me from saving my daughter. If I have to paint her as the bad guy, then I will.”

“No, there has to be another way. We need to think this through before doing anything.”

“There have been a lot of questions about why Chelsea hasn’t been out there” James and George looked at one another. They had been trying for months to get Bill to allow them to go public with Chelsea’s illness and now that he’d knocked up his ex he wanted to rush out this information. Their glances didn’t go unnoticed by him. “I know what you are thinking, but this is what we have to deal with now I can’t change that.”

“We will come up with a plan.

 

<><><><><><><> 

Marissa sat in the closet with a small flashlight illuminating the box she held. She’d heard whispers about what happened the other night with Daren and Bill, and she knew that he spent the night with Hillary. He clearly was not willing to see things her way. She sighed before ripping up the papers in her hand. He’d never know the truth, it would make things too easy.

She heard him come into the bedroom, and she turned the flash light off, not wanting him to come into the closet and see her. Marissa sat still holding her breath, until she heard him leave again. She wouldn’t let anyone stop her from having what she deserved and that was to be first lady. She wasn’t in love with him and never had been he was a means to an end so that she could have the life she wanted. She couldn’t believe how trusting he had been when she came into his life. As far as she knew he never did a background check. Marissa smirked thinking about how she’d basically pulled off her greatest con. She blew out a breath that was laced with annoyance. Marissa had just about everything planned except for Chelsea being sick and bringing Hillary back into his life.

She’d known from the beginning that he didn’t love her, but that didn’t matter because she didn’t love him either. They were using each other, she rationalized in her head. She pulled herself off the floor and turned, she bent and pulled up the floor board, putting the box back into its hiding place before replacing everything. She stuffed the wad of torn papers into her pocket and quietly exited the closet.

<><><><><><><> 

“You mean to tell me Bill Clinton did this to you?” Daren sat across from Sam Willard, a reporter, if he could be called that, with the _Daily Mail_.

“Yes, he went off into a jealous rage. He’s unstable” Sam moved closer to him, talking in a conspiratorial tone.

“Tell me the truth?” Daren’s brow quirked up. Sam laughed, his yellowing teeth and putrid coffee breath making Daren want to vomit. “Of course, the truth is not what I’m going to publish, but I’d still like to know.”  Daren eyed him suspiciously.

“Just print what I tell you, the rest doesn’t matter” he leaned as close as he could without having to smell Sam’s disgusting breath and began to tell his version of things, a version that was nowhere in the vicinity of the truth.

<><><><><><><> 

Bill threw the print outs he’d been given of the _Daily Mail_ website onto his desk. He was livid, but not that surprised. He sat brooding while everyone around him tried to put out this fire.

“You have to make a statement” he was implored by his staffers. Bill wasn’t in any mood, and what would he say? While the reasons were false he had indeed attacked Daren. He slammed his hand down on the desk causing those around him to jump in fear and fall silent. Bill pushed away from the desk.

“I’m going out” he stated to no one in particular. James took a deep breath and blocked his path.

“You can’t, you have a scheduled call with your campaign staffers and there is no way you can just pull out of it at the last minute” his shoulders sagged he knew James was right.

“Fine, but make sure you get Hillary here” James cut his eyes at George who just silently shook his head. He rolled his eyes but set about making sure she was there when the call was over. The last thing he wanted to incur was more of Bill Clinton’s wrath.

Hillary saw the headlines, and she felt awful that she was probably going to cost him the election. It was bad enough she was pregnant, and they hadn’t even decided how to deal with that, but now with this Daren thing. She blew out a breath as she packed up a few of Chelsea’s things to take over to the headquarters. She hated being summoned but she knew he wanted to talk about what Daren was doing.

Hillary picked up a sleeping Chelsea, cradling her daughter who had lost weight during her treatment, in her arms. He’d sent staffers to come pick her up thankfully the media hadn’t been able to descend on the hotel….yet.

When he exited the meeting, he was told that Hillary was waiting on him in his office. Bill wanted to go back to the mansion to have this conversation, but he had a few more things on his agenda at his headquarters before he left town.

Hillary found an empty conference area and laid Chelsea on a sofa before waiting for him in his office. She knew that the conversation they were about to have wouldn’t be pretty.

“I don’t appreciate being summoned” she said the moment he stepped into the office. Bill took a deep breath before closing the door.

“We need to talk” she rolled her eyes.

“That seems to be the case all the time” Bill frowned at her attitude.

“Are you mad at me…again?”

“No” she said softly.

“When are you going to press charges? It would have been better if you’d done it before this but….”

“I’m not” she said cutting him off. His mouth hung open in mid-sentence as he just stared at her trying to understand what she’d just said.

“Excuse me, you aren’t what?” she swallowed knowing this was when the blow up would happen.

“I’m not pressing charges. I don’t think it will…..”

“Are you out of your mind Hillary?” he exclaimed.

“William, listen to me. I don’t think it will help, and it looks suspicious if I do it now. It’s our word against his and he’s already gotten the upper hand.”

“Maybe that wouldn’t be the case if you hadn’t waited. What were you waiting on you should have gone the next day?”

“Are you done?” he remained silent. “I’ve been thinking a lot about everything and I need to go back to New York. Chelsea’s stem cell transplant is scheduled for two weeks and after her recovery I am transferring her care to New York” she could tell from the look in his eyes he was incensed.

“And what about us Hillary? What about our family?”

“You seem to be forgetting you are married to someone else and running for president. I refuse to do anything to jeopardize your chance. I’ve done enough as it is” the truth was out even if she didn’t mean for it to get out. Bill stood and walked around the desk, he kneeled in front of her and grabbed her hand.

“Baby, I told you I would give this all up to be with you. I wasn’t just saying that I mean it.”

“I won’t let you do that Bill.”

“I don’t want you to go back to New York. I want you and Chelsea here, where I can make sure you are safe and most off all I can see you two and be close to you as you go through this pregnancy. I don’t want to miss a second” he laid his hand on her small rounded stomach. Hillary leaned forward and pressed her forehead against his, she shut her eyes tightly feeling the prickling of tears wanting to be shed.

“I can’t stay” her voice broke. “I have to get back to my life sooner or later. You will be in D.C. after you win and move into the White House with your wife. Where does that leave me? You want me to stay in Arkansas pining after you?” the sadness in her voice broke his heart, but he had to admit she was right.

“Hilly, we can’t go back to where we were. Even if you hadn’t gotten pregnant we have come so far and although I never stopped loving you, since you’ve been here my soul has become more intertwined with yours and I feel like I’ll just die if you go” she dropped her head feeling exactly the same way he did, but she knew it was best.

“Billy, you have worked so hard for this. I refuse to be the reason why you don’t get your dream. I have to go back to New York and start my life again. That doesn’t mean I don’t love you because lord knows I do” the emotion was barely concealed in her voice.

“I’m going to fix this Hillary. It was my stupidity and pride that got us here and I will make sure I fix it. I don’t want anything if it’s not with you and our family” she started to shake her head, but he stopped her. “Let me do this Hillary” she still was not ok with him risking his career for her. Bill saw the uncertainty in her eyes he took her small hands in between his large ones, bringing them to his lips and softly kissing them. He looked up into her blue eyes, shining with the tears that she was barely keeping at bay. “It is my turn to take care of you Hillary and I will” he said softly. Before anything else could be said the door to the office opened. Bill stood immediately and came face to face with his wife.

“Already proposing, are we?” she spat at him, the coldness of her voice making Hillary want to shiver.

“What do you want Marissa?” she came around the chair, placing herself directly in Hillary’s line of sight.

“For this woman to stay away from my husband” Hillary began to stand, but Bill placed a hand on her shoulder before turning to his wife.

“I don’t have time for games, we are discussing our child.”

“Which one?” she asked snidely. Bill’s jaw flexed, and she knew he was losing control. “Going to beat me like you beat Daren?” Hillary grabbed his hand and then stood between them. She knew he wouldn’t hit a woman, but she didn’t want them to start yelling at each other.

“I need to get Chelsea back to the hotel, so she can get some proper rest” she didn’t wait for his objections before she released his hand and brushed past them and out of the office.

Marissa’s nose flared. “Can you at least pretend to care about me?” she turned to Bill once Hillary was gone.

“No, I can’t. We both know what this is, and what it’s been since the beginning. You never loved me, and I never loved you. I was rebounding from Hillary and you were looking for fame and fortune” she was shocked at his words. She knew that there was no love between the two of them, but she never figured he was on to her. At least he didn’t know what was really going on or else he’d have said it.

<><><><><><><> 

He walked toward the building with a purpose. He was not going to let this go on any longer. Someone would pay for what happened to him, and at this point he didn’t care who.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have updated after being harangued by GonewiththeBlizzard for months now. Now maybe she'll leave me alone.

He sat outside the headquarters a cigarette perched between the index and middle finger of his right hand, the fingers of his left drumming against the door panel. He’d been disappointed two days prior to learn that neither Bill nor Marissa was in town, but he’d waited all these years what was a few more days. Now his patience was finally paying off.

  
<><><><><><><>

  
“I really wish you would reconsider Hillary. We can work this out” she couldn’t help but to roll her eyes. They’d been over this countless times.

  
“Bill, I have to get back to my life. I can’t, nor do I want to stay here forever” his heart dropped into his feet.

  
“I thought we were going to try to be a family again” she sighed and rolled her head back onto her shoulders.

  
“You are married and running to be the president. I’m really not sure what about those two things you don’t understand” he was getting annoyed and she was bracing herself for the onslaught that was bound to come.

  
“I’ve already told you that I have that worked out. Just tell me the truth you don’t really want to be with me you are still punishing me for what you think I did. Even though I’ve told you I didn’t cheat!” she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

  
“William that is not at all what is going on and you know it. Just stop this…..” at that moment his phone began to ring. He had to take it, he was waiting on an important call. He held up his finger and answered the phone. Hillary stood with her hand on her hips, but when she saw the call was going to run long she waved at Bill and left his office despite his silent protests.

  
<><><><><><><><>

  
Marissa balked and turned as white as a sheet when she saw him. Surely this was not happening. She blinked and rubbed her eyes, when she opened them he was closer to her. All the blood drained from her face and everything she’d eaten threatened to be spilled all over the floor.

  
Marissa cut her eyes to her right just long enough to make sure that no one was looking at her. She strode quickly over to the man she thought she’d never see again. What she was going to say or do she had no clue. His face held a mirthless smile when he saw her stalking towards him. She wasn’t sure where she got the gumption, but she grabbed his arm and forcefully pulled him into an empty office just as Hillary rounded the corner.

  
Hillary only got a glimpse of the man, but she was sure she’d never seen him around before. Her curiosity got the better of her and she walked close to the now closed office door to see if she could hear anything.

  
“What are you doing here?” Marissa asked through clenched teeth. Charlie ran his fingers over the smooth wood finish of the desk, ignoring Marissa and enjoying this moment. She walked to him and grabbed his shoulder pulling him around, the stench of cigarette smoke making her wrinkle her nose in disgust. “I asked you a question” he looked around momentarily before blood shot eyes settled on hers.

  
“I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. You sure do seem to have made a good life for yourself, Dawn. Oh, wait it’s Marissa now isn’t it” her nose flared.

  
“Again why are you here and how did you even know I’d be here?”

  
“Does that even matter now? What matters is I found you” he didn’t say more. Marissa could hear her heart thudding in her ears. She swallowed the nervous lump down.

  
“What do you want?” the corner of his lips flinched up.

  
“What is owed to me” he stated simply.

  
“And what is that?”

  
“For you to pay first of all” she never thought in a million years this moment would come. She’d heard rumors that he was still around, but she’d been confident, too confident that she had eliminated him.

  
“I don’t owe you anything” he stepped back from her and pulled down the neck of his t-shirt exposing his chest and several deep scars. “

These say otherwise, since you put a bullet in my chest and left me to die” he walked to her and grabbed her by her upper arms tightly. “And if you don’t do everything I want I will tell that husband” Charlie stopped talking and began to laugh before speaking again. “I will tell that man that thinks he’s your husband the truth about you.”

  
<><><><><><><><>

  
Hillary sat in her hotel room replaying in her head over and over what she’d heard. She convinced herself that there was no way that she heard what she thought she did. The voices were muffled the door was thick, her pregnancy brain was playing tricks on her. She stopped rocking and looked down at a sleeping Chelsea in her lap. They would be going in three days for the stem cell transplant and after her baby recovered they’d go back to their life in New York. Even though Hillary knew that she’d never be able to just pick up where she left off. Nothing would ever be the same, not only because of Chelsea’s illness, but because long thought buried feelings were out in the open.

  
Although she attempted to think of the weeks and months ahead, her mind kept swinging back to earlier in the day, Marissa and that man. She sat and tried to remember if Bill had ever mentioned anything about Marissa’s family. Maybe it was a relative wanting money because of who she was married to. As far as Hillary could remember neither Marissa nor the mysterious man ever mentioned how they knew each other. Chelsea moved restlessly, and Hillary gathered her against her body and stood from the sofa. She carried Chelsea to her bed, both she and Chelsea were getting too big for her to continue this move. She tucked her into bed and decided to get into her own, but the way her mind was running sleep would not come easy.

  
Hillary fought with herself, should she mention to Bill what she saw and thought she heard? She blew out a deep breath, what was there to mention? She wasn’t even sure she saw and heard what she thought. She flopped against her pillows and stared at the ceiling. The life growing within her began to stir feeling her uncertain nervous energy. Hillary absentmindedly caressed her stomach trying to get the little being to calm down, trying to get herself to calm down. She drew in a long breath and made a decision to just let it go, whatever it was.


	16. Chapter 16

“How well do you know Marissa?” he looked up from the plate in front of him.

“What?” he frowned.

“How well do you know M..” he held his hand up.

“I’m married to the woman” he left it at that. She was fighting with herself. Still unsure if she should tell him what she heard. She sat at the table.

“It’s just that I haven’t heard you say much about her family.”

“There’s nothing to say. She’s an only child, both parents are dead, they were only children as well so no aunts, uncles, cousins, nothing” she thought that was pretty convenient.

“I think you should…”

“Bill are you…” Marissa stopped short when she saw Hillary. She frowned.

“I’ll talk to you later” she said standing up and leaving. Marissa turned towards Bill

“What was she doing here?”

“She was…” he was about to divulge what she’d asked him but for some reason he thought better of it. “Finalizing plans for Chelsea’s procedure” Marissa didn’t think anything was out of the ordinary with that and she sat down across from Bill. She was served her breakfast and they ate in silence.

 

<><><><><><><> 

2 Days Later

Bill paced the waiting room. Hillary had been taken in just half hour before to begin the stem cell transplant. There was so much at stake, not only for Chelsea’s sake, but Hillary’s and their unborn child’s. He silently prayed all would be ok. Every time he sat down he’d just pop right back up, the anxiety nearly becoming too much for him.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity but was only just under two hours the doctor came in and told him everything went well. They got what they needed, the baby and Hillary came through the procedure fine. They were preparing everything to transplant into Chelsea.

“Can I go see Hillary?” the doctor agreed, and Bill walked to her room. She was laying still on the bed but was awake.

“They told me not to move around much” she stated after noticing his tentative stance.

“Are you in any pain?”

“No, I feel fine. Just not going to love being in bed for two days.”

“They are going to start the transplant in about forty-five minutes. I’ll go be with her” she smiled slightly, there was so much on her mind right now. “You ok?” he looked intently at her.

“Yes, why do you ask?”

“Just seems like something is bothering you. What did you want to say to me before Marissa walked in the other day?” He was convinced that she hadn’t said all that she wanted to say before Marissa interrupted. Hillary waved a hand.

“It wasn’t important I was just curious” what she didn’t say was she’d called in a few favors, she had to get to the bottom of the nagging feelings she had.

“Whenever you are ready to talk I’m here, you know that, right?” she nodded her head but remained silent.

<><><><><><><><> 

“This was all you could find?”

“That is all, it’s like she didn’t exist prior to showing up in Arkansas” Hillary thought back to what the man said, he called her Dawn, but she didn’t have a last name.

“Nothing on a Dawn Thomas?”

“There was nothing that connected this woman to anyone named Dawn Thomas” her shoulders slumped. This was even worse than she imagined. There was something amiss and she had to tell Bill.

“Thank you I appreciate it” Harold stood and left her office. She knew she could trust him to be discreet. She used his investigative skills during her cases and as far as he was concerned this was work for a case.

She wasn’t sure when she’d be able to talk to him. He was on the campaign trail and she was back in New York.  Chelsea’s care was transferred to New York three weeks after her transplant and she was doing well. Hillary’s pregnancy had progressed to a stage where there was no doubt that she was pregnant and aside from a few curious glances when she returned to work. No one said anything.

She drew in an annoyed breath. Hillary knew she should have mentioned it to him before she left, but truth be told she was scared. If Marissa wasn’t who she claimed to be then that was his easy way out and back to her. That prospect scared the shit out of her. It didn’t matter that she knew he didn’t cheat, that they’d been through one of the most traumatic things in their lives and that they were now about to be parents again. She lost herself when she was with him, that wasn’t what scared her. What scared her was she didn’t mind, that she welcomed it, reveled in it. And now with him on the verge of being president there was no way she could maintain her autonomy and she didn’t even want to. She wanted to fall into his embrace and never leave.

<><><><><><><><><> 

He was so happy to have a stop in New York. It had been too long since he’d seen his girls, both of them.

“I know what you are thinking, but you have to be cool about this” James came to stand next to him. Bill remained silent, ignoring him. “You are still married to Marissa and so far, we’ve been able to keep this Hillary thing under wraps.”

“This Hillary thing” Bill turned to him annoyed. James knew what that look meant.

“Look, I know you two love each other, but you are married and in the middle of a presidential run.”

“I’m going to see my daughter and Hillary, and no one will stop me” James could tell that was the end of that conversation.

Hillary paced nervously awaiting his arrival. She’d convinced herself to tell him everything, well at least everything she’d found out so far. Which wasn’t much she started to rationalize.

“Mommy when is daddy coming?” Chelsea’s welcomed presence interrupted her thoughts. Hillary looked at her watch.

“He should be here in about an hour sweetie. Why don’t you go up and finish playing? I’ll let you know when he’s almost here” Chelsea nodded and went back up to her room. Hillary took a deep breath and opened the folder she’d been given earlier that day. She went over the contents again, it was now or never.

<><><><><><><> 

Bill walked quickly out of the makeshift office at his New York campaign office. He turned briefly and made eye contact with a man he hadn’t seen before. Bill made it a priority to know all his volunteers and this man he definitely did not know. He was running late, but something in him wouldn’t let him pass him by. “Bill Clinton” he said once he reached the man, holding out his hand.

“Charlie Larson” there was something about him that unsettled Bill.

“I don’t recall seeing you around here before. Are you a recent volunteer?” Charlie’s brows shot up.

“I’m not a volunteer” he said flatly. The tone of his voice sending shivers down Bill’s spine. “I’m a messenger” he didn’t say anything more as he pressed an envelope into Bill’s hand and walked away. Bill watched the man leave, a heavy feeling descended upon him.

“What was that all about?” George asked once he came to stand beside Bill.

“I have no idea” Bill turned to him, worry etched on his face. “It’s fine, I really need to be going” he cut off any further discussion and walked away.

Once inside the limo Bill opened the envelope. He pulled out its contents and his heart fell into his feet. Inside were pictures of Hillary and Chelsea, some were taken in Arkansas, a great many of them taken in New York. Bill could see that many of the pictures were taken before Chelsea had gotten sick. He felt ill as he pressed a clammy palm to his mouth trying to stifle any vomit that was threatening to leave his body. He looked inside the envelope and pulled out a slip of paper. In sloppy block letters was a message; Ask Marissa what all this means and what will happen if you don’t cooperate.

Bill informed the driver to make a detour. He called Hillary and told her he couldn’t make it. He surmised from her tone that she was disappointed, but this was important. He needed to find out what this was all about and only one person could tell him.  He took a deep breath and called Hillary back. He had to approach this situation more strategically. Whoever this Charlie Larson was Bill felt in his soul he was dangerous and somehow Marissa was mixed up with him. All manner of scenarios ran through his head. Was he a hit man sent by Marissa to kill… He couldn’t even finish the thought.

<><><><><><><><>  


Seeing Hillary and Chelsea did wonders for his attitude. He’d been able to have dinner with them, play with Chelsea for a bit before giving her a bath and tucking her into bed. He missed these days. He was so thankful that she was doing well and that he and Hillary had a second chance.

They sat on the sofa, his hand perched on her round stomach, their unborn child moving around inside of her. Hillary ran her fingers through his hair.

“Are you ok?” He looked into her bright blue eyes. He didn’t want to lie to her, but he also didn’t want to tell her what was going on because he didn’t know.

“Yes, just so much going on right now” she searched his eyes and knew there was more, but she wouldn’t push him.

“I need to talk to you about something” Bill sat up straighter. “I’m not even sure where to start or what is going on, but there is something not right with Marissa” he swallowed the lump in his throat.

“What makes you say that?” Hillary reached for the folder and handed it to him. Bill reluctantly took it. She noticed his hesitation and began to question if she’d misread everything. Could it be that he was in love with Marissa?

“I overheard her talking to man and somethings they were saying really disturbed me, so I started digging. I don’t think she is who she says she is.”  


“Is this why you asked me about her family?” she nodded. Bill reached inside his coat pocket for the envelope he’d been given.

“I saw a man at my office today that I’d never seen before. I approached him to thank him for volunteering. He said he wasn’t a volunteer, but a messenger and gave me this” he handed the envelope to her. Hillary immediately opened it and gasped when she saw what was inside. Bill read over the contents of the folder she’d given him.

“What do you make of all of this?”

“I make of it that the woman I’m married to isn’t who she says she is, and you and my daughter are in danger because of it” Hillary looked at him wide eyed never imaging that any of this would go this far.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one I think may be wrapped up in 5 chapters or less. I have ideas for other fics, but I am in the data collection stage of my dissertation so I may not be able to write as much as I'd like.


	17. Chapter 17

It had been nearly three weeks since they talked about the Marissa issue, or whoever she was. After that he’d been gone campaigning. She understood not wanting to speak about the matter over the phone, but now that they were sitting face to face again, she could see he was withdrawn.

“Did you find out anything new?” she tried again with him. He sighed softly. Truth was he was embarrassed, embarrassed that Marissa was able to get one over on him and for so long. Embarrassed that he was missing Hillary so much at the time that he hitched his wagon to the first thing that came along. He’d had his people looking into her and what he found out made his stomach churn. She was not at all the woman she claimed to be, as a matter of fact she was someone else entirely. He hadn’t gotten to the end of all her deceptions, but he knew enough. Ironically, he wasn’t angry with her, he was angry with himself.

“Hill I really don’t want to talk about that situation….” She stopped his words.

“I am just as much involved in this as you are. I want to know what you learned” she looked at him sternly and he knew he wasn’t getting out of this. Bill stood and began to pace.

“I really don’t know what you want me to say, that I’m an idiot and she pulled the wool over my eyes? I endangered yours and Chelsea’s life? What is that you want from me Hillary!” she was startled by his outburst.

 Immediately he regretted his words. This was not a time for the blame game even if he felt it was all his fault. Hillary remained silent, she didn’t want this to turn into a shouting match. Their unborn child flip flopped inside of her and she ran her hand over her stomach. Bill followed her motions with his eyes, and more of the gravity of the situation fell upon him. “Hillary…” he stopped not sure how to progress. She looked at him, her eyes softening. “I messed up. I let this person into our lives and I have no clue who she really is. What I mean is her name isn’t Marissa. I was able to find out her real name is Dawn Dennison. She told me so many lies about who she was, her family and I just believed her. I feel stupid” he walked back over to the sofa and sat down heavily.

She turned to him and soothed his hair back. “You couldn’t have possibly known that she was lying about who she was. She fooled everyone” Bill shook his head.

“I should have known. I can’t believe how gullible I’ve been. And now look at the mess we are in.”

“Did you find out who that man was?” she could see by the look in his eyes that he had.

“Her husband” he said simply. Hillary’s breath caught.

“Whaa…what? You mean her ex-husband?”

“No, I mean her husband. Dawn Dennison is still married to one Charlie Larson” Hillary’s mind whirled with the implications of what he’d just said. Her heart leapt at the possibilities, but she refused to get too hopeful.

“You mean that….”

“My marriage to her isn’t valid, for a myriad of reasons.”

“Well that’s at least some good news. You can get out of this thing without damaging your campaign” she was certainly more optimistic than he was.

“Do you think the American people will vote for a rube that was taken like this? I’m supposed to be savvy and discerning yet I was so easily conned. This is not a good attribute” her heart sank.

“What are you saying? You are going to stay with her?” she was incredulous.

“No, no, of course not, but I can’t rush and…..I guess it’s not even a divorce. I need to find more information out, anything I can use to force her to leave on her own without everything being discovered. We will keep you safe and Chelsea, but I just can’t let on that I know yet” Hillary was disappointed, but a small part of her understood.

“It’s business as usual I guess?” he swallowed the lump in his throat.

“Yes, business as usual.” 

<><><><><><><><> 

She tried to quell the rising panic but there was something different. Their relationship hadn’t been right in months, but he still seemed to like her, if only a minute amount. Now it was something about his eyes, it was like the dislike was now a blazing hot hatred. She threw back a shot of tequila trying to numb her fears. Fear was not something Marissa was used to, she was usually the one in control but with Charlie back in the picture she’d met her con artist match. They were teenagers when they met, their cons had originally been small schemes, check fraud, credit card skimming, but eventually she needed more, and Charlie was too lazy and unambitious to see the big picture. She had to eliminate him, and she’d thought she had, she thought all her tracks were covered. Marissa sighed she should have seen this campaign would be her undoing, but she’d gotten greedy. She saw the chance to pull off her biggest con.

These days it was difficult finding time alone with the constant Secret Service presence. She needed to talk to Charlie, find out if he’d had any contact with Bill.

Bill hesitated when he saw her sitting on the sofa. He was never one to hate, but he hated her. Hated her nearly as much as he hated himself. He wanted to walk over to her, grab her up and throw her out of his house, but that would not solve anything. He needed a full understanding of who he was dealing with and what if any danger Hillary and Chelsea were in. She saw him enter, he ignored her like he usually did.

“You know ignoring me won’t make me go away. We are about to be the first couple of this country. We need to try to make amends” she stood from the sofa and slinked over to him. He stood stark still his gaze never leaving her face. She finally reached him and pushed her breast against his chest. Marissa ran her fingers through his hair. His jaw clicked and for a split second she thought she was making headway with him, until he grabbed her hand tightly.

“Don’t even try it” his voice sent shivers through her. She was never one to be afraid of anyone, but she knew Bill had a temper and things were absolutely on thin ice between the two of them. Marissa winced and tried to snatch her hand from him. He squeezed it tighter before realizing what he was doing. He pushed her away in disgust. “We are only married in name I have no interest in anything else with you” he nearly couldn’t even say that much.

She rubbed her hand that was quickly forming a bruise. He felt somewhat bad for what he’d done. He could not lose control, and hurting women was not his thing. Bill wanted this entire thing over and her out of his life, but things would have to be taken slowly he couldn’t let his family down anymore.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short update but I think I was able to pack a lot in it. Two more chapters and I'll have this one all wrapped up. Thanks for being patient with me and thanks for commenting I really appreciate it.

Her heart raced it felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. Slipping her detail had been easier than she thought possible. She had to meet up with Charlie and find out what his angle was, what happened next, she had not planned. That was a rarity for her, every detail was always planned otherwise she wouldn’t have been so successful. And now here she was having made probably one of the biggest mistakes of her life, along with not making sure he was dead the first time.

She laughed ruefully, well she wouldn’t be making that mistake again. The smile slowly dropped from her face the gravity of the situation fully upon her. She was in deep shit.

<><><><><><><><> 

 

He groggily reached over to the nightstand when he heard his cell ringing. Bill squinted from the bright light of the screen and he frowned at the time. His finger slid quickly across the screen connecting the call.

“This better be good” his voice sleep roughened and agitated. She stirred next to him and he reached a hand over soothing her back to sleep. They’d tried and failed once again to stay away from one another, but here they were laying in complete bliss after a long night of lovemaking. Neither of them felt any remorse or guilt the only thing stopping them from fully being together was the campaign. Bill listened intently at the voice on the other end of the phone. He sat up in bed, a frown imbedded deeply into his features. He stole a quick glance at Hillary before quietly slipping from the bed and leaving the room.

“Was she tailed?” he asked once he was in the living room. He nodded slowly his heart dropping into his feet. This was worse than he could have ever thought. He couldn’t fathom the type of monster he’d allowed in his life. He sat heavily on the sofa his mind whirring. “What does this mean? What can be done?” his fingers racked restlessly through his hair. Suddenly he jumped from the sofa and began to pace, he swallowed the spit that started to accumulate in his mouth and fought the urge to vomit where he stood. “I don’t want a coverup. It’s time the truth come out, the campaign be damned” he ended the phone call. Bill took a few deep breaths trying to clear his head and calm down his racing heart.

Hillary stood in the archway of the living and watched him. She instinctively knew from the rippling muscles of his back that something was terribly wrong. She pushed herself from the door and started to walk towards him. A slight movement caught her attention.

“Mommy” Bill turned abruptly at the sound of his daughters voice. His breath caught. Both parents raced over to her. Bill intercepted Hillary and pushed her back. She was about to protest but she remembered the baby.

“Chels sweetie”

“Daddy I don’t feel good” she was covered in welts and hives. He felt her forehead with the back of his hand. She definitely had a fever. Bill picked Chelsea up and took her back to the room before calling his team to notify them that he needed to be transported to the hospital. Bill quickly checked in with a terrified Hillary before tending to Chelsea. He had to be strong although he was beside himself with worry. Tonight, had deteriorated. All manner of scenarios ran through his head. Was she having a relapse? Was it something even more deadly? Bill held a cold cloth to her forehead hoping to bring down the fever.

<><><><><><><> 

They arrived at the hospital and she was taken back immediately. Hillary and Bill were instructed to wait out in the waiting room. If she wasn’t six months pregnant with sore feet and back she would have joined him pacing, instead she sat, nervously taping her foot. Bill saw the anguish on her face and went to her. He pulled her against his chest. Hillary buried her face in his shirt and sobbed.

“I’m so scared what if she’s relapsed” her voice muffled by his body. He laid his chin on top of her head and tried to keep his mind on positive thoughts, but that was difficult with everything that happened in the last hour. Hillary pulled away from him suddenly embarrassed to have lost herself in such a public way. Bill would have nothing of it. He held her face between his hands, leaning in and kissing her softly on the mouth.

“Don’t be embarrassed to be afraid” all she needed was that simple statement. They both came to the realization that they were in fact in public and they pulled away, and not a moment too soon as the doctor walked into the public waiting room. He held up his hand for them to remain seated.

“I have good news. She’s just having a minor allergic reaction to one of her medications which we can easily adjust” Hillary placed her hand over her mouth, a strangled sob of relief exited her mouth. Bill released the breath he didn’t know he was holding. “We’ll have to keep her for a day or two for observation, but I do expect her to make a full recovery. You can see her when you are ready” Bill stood quickly and helped Hillary. They were ready to see their daughter.

Neither noticed the figure lurking around the corner. She couldn’t believe her luck, what seemed like the shittiest night of her life after she fell and broken her ankle, now appeared to be the big break she needed.


End file.
